663 


AMERICAN   CRISIS   BIOGRAPHIES 

Edited  by 

Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.  D. 


Hmerican  Crisis  Biographies 

Edited  by  Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.D.  With  the 
counsel  and  advice  of  Professor  John  B.  McMaster,  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Each  i2mo,  cloth,  with  frontispiece  portrait.  Price 
$1.25  net;  by  mail,  $1.37. 

These  biographies  will  constitute  a  complete  and  comprehensive 
history  of  the  great  American  sectional  struggle  in  the  form  of  readable 
and  authoritative  biography.  The  editor  has  enlisted  the  co-operation 
of  many  competent  writers,  as  will  be  noted  from  the  list  given  below. 
An  interesting  feature  of  the  undertaking  is  that  the  series  is  to  be  im 
partial,  Southern  writers  having  been  assigned  to  Southern  subjects  and 
Northern  writers  to  Northern  supjects,  but  all  will  belong  to  the  younger 
generation  of  writers,  thus  assuring  freedom  from  any  suspicion  of  war 
time  prejudice.  The  Civil  War  will  not  be  treated  as  a  rebellion,  but  as 
the  great  event  in  the  history  of  our  nation,  which,  after  forty  years,  it 
is  now  clearly  recognized  to  have  been. 

Now  ready : 

Abraham  Lincoln.     By  ELLIS  PAXSON  OBERHOLTZER. 
Thomas  H.  Benton.      By  JOSEPH  M.  ROGERS. 
David  G.  Farragut.      By  JOHN  R.  SPEARS. 
William  T.  Sherman.      By  EDWARD  ROBINS. 
Frederick  Douglass.     By  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON. 
Judah  P.  Benjamin.      By  PIERCE  BUTLER. 
Robert  E.  Lee.     By  PHILIP  ALEXANDER  BRUCE. 
Jefferson  Davis.     By  PROF.  W.  E.  DODD. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens.      BY  Louis  PENDLETON. 
John  C.  Calhoun.     By  GAILLARD  HUNT. 
"  Stonewall"  Jackson.     By  HENRY  ALEXANDER  WHITE. 
John  Brown.     By  W.  E.  BURGHARDT  DUBOIS. 
Charles  Sumner.     By  PROF.  GEORGE  H.  HAYNES. 
Henry  Clay.     By  THOMAS  H.  CLAY. 

In  preparation  : 

Daniel  Webster.     By  PROF.  C.  H.  VAN  TYNE. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.      By  LINDSAY  SWIFT. 
William  H.  Seward.     By  EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE,  Jr. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.     By  PROF.  HENRY  PARKER  WILLIS. 
Thaddeus  Stevens.      By  PROF.  J.  A.  WOODBURN. 
Andrew  Johnson.      By  PROF.  WALTER  L.  FLEMING. 
Ulysses  S.  Grant.     By  PROF.  FRANKLIN  S.  EDMONDS. 
Edwin  M.  Stanton.     By  EDWARD  S.  CORWIN. 
Robert  Toombs.      By  PROF.  U.  B.  PHILLIPS. 
Jay  Cooke.     By  ELLIS  PAXSON  OBERHOLTZER. 


AMERICAN  CRISIS  BIOGRAPHIES 


-HENRY  CLAY 


THOMAS  HART 

D  mot\  M  uoO  . 

" 


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\o  i3\o\(^  tsfjVia  aA\  ^1c)^n^(iu^  o\  ,\oA\nT  xo*\ 

.  \o  3moA  aA\  \o 
R\Al  to\Vi3au  iocu 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 
PUBLJSh 


This  rare  portrait  of  Mr.  Clay  is  from  a  talbotype 
taken  in  'Philadelphia  about  1848,  a  photographic 
process  on  paper  invented  by  an  Englishman,  IV.  H. 
Fox  Talbot,  to  supersede  the  silver  plates  of  Daguerre. 
A  large  photograph  of  the  print,  framed  in  wood  from 
the  floor  of  '  'Ashland,  ' '  which  now  hangs  in  the  library 
of  the  home  of  Mrs.  Thomas  H.  Clay  in  Lexington, 
Was  used  for  this  reproduction. 


AMERICAN  CRISIS  BIOGRAPHIES 


HENRY  CLAY 


by 

HIS  GRANDSON 

THOMAS  HART  CL£Y 

Completed  by 
ELLIS  PAXSON  OBERHOLTZER  PH.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1910,  BY 
GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 
Published  February, 


All  rights  reserved 
Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

THIS  life  of  Henry  Clay  was  begun  by  his  grand 
son,  Thomas  Hart  Clay.  Other  hands  have  finished 
it.  Mr.  Clay  died  April  8, 1907,  and  the  completion 
of  the  book  has  been  accomplished  by  Dr.  Ellis 
Paxson  Oberholtzer,  the  editor  of  the  series,  with 
the  assistance  of  Mrs.  Clay. 

Mr.  Clay  was  eminently  suited  for  the  work  of 
writing  the  life  of  his  grandfather.  He  was  a  man 
of  literary  taste,  cultivated  and  scholarly,  and  he 
had  been  a  careful  student  of  the  political  history  of 
the  United  States.  Free  from  prejudice,  with  a 
mind  full  of  judicious  admiration  for  his  great  an 
cestor,  his  aim  in  this  book  has  been  to  recall  to  the 
minds  of  Americans  the  patriotism  and  statesman 
ship  of  Henry  Clay,  and  to  recount  the  charming 
characteristics  which  made  him  the  most  beloved  of 
public  men. 

Thanks  are  due  Miss  Harrison  of  Lexington  for 
the  use  of  the  diary  of  her  father,  James  O.  Harri 
son.  Mr.  Harrison  was  a  Kentuckian,  a  lawyer  of 
great  ability  and  a  man  who  had  the  esteem  and  re 
gard  of  the  whole  community.  Always  a  Democrat 
yet  always  a  devoted  friend  of  Henry  Clay,  whom 
he  probably  knew  better  than  any  other  of  Mr. 
Clay's  contemporaries,  Mr.  Harrison  was  chosen  to 
be  one  of  his  executors. 

238819 


<fr  PKEFACE 

Appreciation  and  thanks  are  to  be  expressed  to 
Gaillard  Hunt  for  permission  given  Mr.  Clay  to 
make  use  of  his  delightful  book,  The  First  Forty 
Years  of  Washington  Society,  and  to  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons,  the  publishers  of  the  volume,  for  their 
gracious  consent  also. 

A.  G.  C. 


NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOR 

WHILE  I  was  seeking  a  writer  of  a  biography  of 
Henry  Clay,  Bishop  Lewis  William  Burton  of 
Kentucky  was  addressed  for  a  suggestion.  He  at 
once  recommended  Mr.  Clay's  grandson,  Thomas 
H.  Clay  of  Lexington,  who  had  been  collecting 
material  for  this  work  for  many  years.  His  sudden 
death  interrupted  his  labors  upon  the  volume,  as 
Mrs.  Clay  states  in  the  preface,  and  she  has  very 
kindly  supplemented  my  efforts  to  complete  it  in  the 
spirit  in  which  it  was  begun. 

It  is  believed  that  there  is  in  existence  little  if  any 
material  which  is  not  made  use  of  in  this  biography. 
Clay's  papers  and  effects  were  scattered  among  his 
descendants.  Before  the  war  "  Ashland"  was  torn 
down  and  rebuilt  by  his  son,  James  B.  Clay,  whose 
widow  a  few  years  later  sold  it  to  Kentucky,  which 
proposed  to  convert  it  into  a  college.  The  estate 
afterward  returned  to  the  possession  of  the  family, 
and  it  is  now  the  home  of  Mrs.  Henry  Clay  Mc 
Dowell,  a  daughter  of  Henry  Clay,  Jr.,  who  was 
killed  at  Buena  Vista. 

When  "  Ashland"  was  purchased  by  the  state, 
many  baskets  of  letters  were  taken  from  the  garrets 
by  a  man  in  no  way  connected  with  the  family. 
Some,  it  is  said,  were  blown  by  the  winds  up  and 
down  wthe  roads  ;  the  rest  were  placed  in  a  storage- 
house,  where  they  were  destroyed  by  fire.  While 


8  NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOK 

it  is  rather  disappointing  that  in  the  preparation  of 
this  book  so  comparatively  few  new  sources  of  in  - 
formation  have  been  opened  up,  it  is  satisfying  to 
know  that  Avhat  it  is  possible  to  find  has  been 
found,  and  that  no  considerable  number  of  letters 
remain  anywhere  untouched. 

E.  P.  O. 


CONTENTS 

I.  EARLY  YEARS 15 

II.  ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE     .        .      34 

III.  THE  WAR  OF  1812   ~ .        .        .        .     jtt 

IV.  CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES     .        .        .81 
V.  THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  ~~  .        .105 

VI.     THE  ELECTION  OF  1824        .        .        .125 

VII.    XSECRETARY  OF  STATE  '  147 

VIII.    NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE   *-:    172 

IX.    THE  WAR  AGAINST  JACKSON    .          .216 

X.     u  TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER  ,  Too  "       .     244 

XI.    SLAVERY  AND  ANTI- SLA  VERY     .        .    288 

XII.    THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE  !~"     .     323 

XIII.  THE  LAST  Two  YEARS        .        .        .368 

XIV.  PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS      .        .    387 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 430 

INDEX  434 


CHRONOLOGY 

^1777— Birth  of   Henry  Clay,    April   12th,  in   the   "Slashes," 
Hanover  County,  Va.,  the  fifth  of  seven  children. 

1781 — Death  of  his  father,  Rev.  John  Clay,  a  Baptist  clergy  man. 

1791 — His  mother  having  remarried,  Henry  Clay  becomes  a  clerk 
in  a  retail  store  in  Richmond. 

1792 — Appointed  to  a  place  in  the  office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  High 
Court  of  Chancery  in  Richmond  where  he  falls  under  the 
influence  of  Chancellor  Wythe  and  becomes  a  student  at 
law.  His  mother  removes  to  Kentucky. 

1797  —Follows  his  mother  and  stepfather  to  Kentucky  "  to  grow 
up  with  the  West."  He  settles  in  Lexington  as  a  lawyer. 

1799— Marries  Lucretia  Hart,  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hart. 
Writes  letters  against  slavery. 

v/1803 — Elected  to  a  seat  in  the  state  legislature,  his  first  political 
office. 

1806 — Defends  Aaron  Burr,  whom  he  believed  to  be  a  persecuted 
man.  Elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  fill 
an  unexpired  term  before  he  is  thirty  years  of  age. 

1807 — Returned  to  the  state  legislature,  where  he  becomes 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly. 

1809— Again  sent  to  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  an  un 
finished  term. 

1810-11— Makes  himself  by  his  oratory  and  his  bold  advocacy 
of  the  nation's  rights  the  leader  of  the  Young  Republicans. 

1811 — Elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington 
from  the  Lexington  district  and  at  once  becomes  Speaker. 
He  warmly  champions  American  rights  and  is  an  in 
fluence  in  bringing  on  the  War  of  1812. 

1813 — Delivers  a  great  speech  in  favor  of  "Free  Trade  and 
Seamen's  Rights." 

1814 — Resigns  the  speakership  and  goes  to  Europe  as  a  peace 
commissioner.  Treaty  of  Ghent  signed  on  December 
24th. 


12  CHRONOLOGY 

1815 — Returns  home  after  a  visit  to  England  to  find  himself  re- 
elected  to  his  place  in  the  House  of  Representatives  where 
he  is  again  made  Speaker.  Declines  the  mission  to  Russia. 

1816 — Declines  a  place  in  President  Madison's  cabinet  as  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Becomes  a  leading  advocate  of  constructive 
policies,  including  a  protective  tariff,  internal  improve 
ments  and  a  national  bank. 

1817 — Invited  to  become  Secretary  of  War  and  then  Minister  to 
England  by  President  Monroe,  but  he  declines  both  offices 
and  continues  to  act  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  where  he  soon  becomes  an  opponent  of  the  ad 
ministration. 

1818 — Orations  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  South  American 
states. 

1819 — Severe  arraignment  of  General  Jackson's  course  in  Florida 
in  the  previous  year. 

1820— Asserts  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  Texas  under  the 
terms  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  Advocates  the  Missouri 
Compromise.  Retires  from  public  life  to  look  after  his 
embarrassed  private  affairs. 

1821 — Returns  to  Washington  to  assist  in  the  final  adjustment 
of  the  Missouri  question. 

1823 — Reflected  to  Congress  and  again  to  the  speakership. 
Avows  his  candidacy  for  the  presidency  in  succession  to 
Monroe. 

1824 — Ninety-nine  electoral  votes  being  cast  for  Jackson,  eighty- 
four  for  Adams,  forty-one  for  Crawford  and  thirty-seven 
for  Clay,  election  from  the  three  highest  devolves  upon 
the  House  of  Representatives. 

1825 — Clay  supports  Adams  who  is  elected  over  Jackson.  Clay 
becomes  Secretary  of  State.  Origin  of  the  "  corrupt  bar 
gain  "  story. 

1826— Duel  with  John  Randolph  for  his  abusive  speech  alluding 
to  "the  coalition  of  Blifil  and  Black  George."  Clay 
organizes  the  first  Pan-American  Congress. 

1828 — Adams  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself  beaten  by  Jackson 
for  President. 

1829 — Clay  retires  from  the  State  Department  and  returns  to 
Kentucky,  once  more  a  private  citizen. 


CHEOXOLOGY  13 

1831 — Elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  by  the  legislature  of 
Kentucky  where  he  combats  Jackson's  policies  and  founds 
the  Whig  party.  Nominated  for  the  presidency  at  a 
convention  at  Baltimore,  with  John  Sergeant  of  Pennsyl 
vania  as  the  candidate  for  Vice-President. 

1832 — Outlines  his  policies  on  the  subject  of  the  bank,  the 
"American  system"  and  other  matters.  Jackson  se 
cures  219  electoral  votes  and  Clay  only  49. 

1833— South  Carolina's  threats  of  nullification  because  of  an 
offensive  tariff  law  met  by  a  compromise.  Jackson  orders 
a  removal  of  the  deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank. 

1834— The  Senate  censures  the  President,  Clay  leading  the  as 
sault. 

1836— General  W.  H.  Harrison  and  others  put  forward  as  Whig 
candidates  for  the  presidency.  Van  Buren,  Jackson'a 
choice  as  his  successor,  elected  by  a  great  majority. 

1837 — The  Jackson  censure  by  the  Senate  is  expunged,  Benton 
leading  the  fight.  Jackson's  "reign  "  comes  to  an  end. 
Clay  reflected  to  the  Senate. 

1839— His  great  debates  with  Calhoun.  Whig  national  con 
vention  meets  at  Harrisburg.  Political  managers  set  aside 
Clay  to  nominate  General  Harrison  and  John  Tyler. 

1840 — Clay  supports  the  party  ticket.  Harrison  and  Tyler  are 
elected  by  large  majorities. 

1841 — Harrison  dies  and  Tyler  becomes  President,  soon  to  break 
with  Clay  and  the  Whig  party. 

1842— Clay  retires  from  Congress  after  an  affecting  farewell  ad 
dress. 

1844— Whig  candidate  for  the  presidency.  Writes  the 
"Raleigh"  and  "Alabama"  Letters  on  the  subject  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas.  Defeated  by  James  K.  Polk 
by  narrow  majorities  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Georgia  and  Louisiana. 

1845— His  friends  raise  a  large  sum  of  money  and  lift  the 
mortgage  from  "  Ashland,"  his  home  near  Lexington. 

1848 — Deceived,  he  again  allows  the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate 
for  the  presidency.  Nomination  and  election  of  Zachary 
Taylor. 

1849 — Again  sent  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  aid  in 
the  settlement  of  the  issues  raised  by  the  Mexican  War. 


14  CHBONOLOGY 

1850 — Proposes  a  compromise  which  after  long  and  acrimoni 
ous  debate  is  adopted.  The  Nashville  convention  mefste. 
The  South  is  temporarily  pacified. 

1851 — Continues  his  efforts  to  keep  the  two  sections  at  peace. 
Goes  to  Cuba  for  his  health,  which  is  much  impaired. 

1852— Meets  Kossuth.  Dies  in  Washington  June  29th,  in  the 
seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age.  Buried  in  Lexington  after 
a  remarkable  series  of  funeral  ceremonies  as  the  corse 
proceeds  through  many  states. 


HENRY  CLAY 


CHAPTER  I 

EAELY  YEAES 

IN  the  county  of  Hanover,  Virginia,  in  a  neigh 
borhood  called  the  "  Slashes,"  because  it  was 
largely  marsh-land  overgrown  with  bushes,  on 
April  12,  1777,  Henry  Clay  was  born.  His  father, 
the  Reverend  John  Clay,  was  a  Baptist  minister,  a 
man  of  great  dignity  and  eloquence,  and  from  him 
Henry  Clay  inherited  his  incomparable  voice. 
Whenever  it  was  known  that  John  Clay  was  to 
preach,  the  people  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  in  the 
summer-time  he  would  speak  from  a  great  flat  stone 
on  the  bank  of  the  South  Anna  Eiver,  in  whose 
clear  waters  he  baptized  many  who  felt  the  burden 
of  their  sins,  and  wished  them  washed  away. 

According  to  Hotten's  Original  Lists  of  Emigrants 
to  America,  1600-1700,  among  the  "  Musters  of  the 
Inhabitants  in  Virginia"  is  found  this  : 

"The  Muster  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Jordan's 
Jorney,  Charles  Cittie,  taken  the  21st  of  January, 
1624. 

"The  Muster  of  John  Claye  [so  spelled  in  the 
record]  : 


16  HENRY  CLAY 

"  Jolin  Claye  arrived  in  the  Treasuror,  February, 

1613. 
"  Ann,  his  wife,  in  the  Ann,  August,  1623. 

Servant : 
"  William  Mcholls,  aged  26  yeres,  in  the  Dutie, 

in  May,  1619. "' 

This  John  Claye  was  the  first  of  the  name  to  come 
to  America,  and  he  was  the  ancestor  of  Henry  Clay. 
He  was  known  as  Captain  John  Claye,  the  English 
Grenadier,  and  he  was  one  of  the  Jamestown 
colonists. 

The  Reverend  John  Clay,  Henry  Clay's  father, 
married  Elizabeth  Hudson,  the  younger  of  the  two 
daughters  of  George  Hudson  and  Elizabeth  Jen 
nings  Hudson.  George  Hudson  was  a  man  of  im 
portance  in  Henrico  County  and  was  an  inspector  of 
tobacco  at  Hanover  Court-House.  His  elder  daugh 
ter,  Mary,  married  John  Watkins,  who,  before 
Kentucky  became  a  state,  removed  to  that  part  of 
Virginia,  and  in  1792,  when  Kentucky  was  admitted 
into  the  Union,  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Constitu 
tional  Convention.  He  was  also  a  representative  in 
the  first  legislature  of  the  new  state. 

For  some  unknown  reason  the  Reverend  John 
Clay  was  frequently  called  "Sir"  John  Clay,  and 
in  a  decree  of  court  given  in  a  friendly  suit  between 
the  two  daughters  of  George  Hudson,  Mary  Wat- 
kins  and  Elizabeth  Clay,  it  is  stated  that  "the 
money  is  subject  to  the  disposition  of  their  husbands, 
John  Watkins  and  Sir  John  Clay."  On  this  sub 
ject  Henry  Clay  wrote  to  a  person  who  wished  to 
establish  some  relationship  with  him:  "The  de 
sire  to  trace  out  your  ancestry  is  very  natural.  I 


EAELY  YEAES  17 

have  often  felt  it  in  respect  to  mine,  but  I  have  no 
written,  and  very  imperfect  traditional  accounts  of 
them.  .  .  .  My  ancestors  emigrated  from  Eng 
land  and  settled  in  the  colony  of  Virginia  early,  I 
believe,  in  the  seventeenth  century.  My  father  was 
born  there,  not  far  from  Richmond,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  James  River.  He  removed  to  Hanover 
County,  shortly  before  my  birth  in  that  county. 
His  name  was  John,  and  he  was  sometimes  called 
Sir  John  Clay  (as  I  have  seen  in  the  record  of  ju 
dicial  proceedings),  but  he  had  no  right  to  that  title. 
It  was  a  sobriquet  which  he  somehow  acquired. 
.  .  .  My  father  was  a  Baptist  preacher."  l 

To  John  and  Elizabeth  Hudson  Clay  were  born 
eight  children,  three  daughters  and  five  sous.  Two 
of  the  daughters  died  in  early  womanhood,  one  in 
infancy.  Of  the  five  sons,  George,  the  eldest  child, 
died  in  Virginia  just  after  coming  of  age.  The 
second  son,  Henry,  died  in  infancy.  John,  the 
sixth  child,  grew  to  manhood  and  became  a  mer 
chant  in  New  Orleans.  He  died  in  that  city,  leav 
ing  no  children.  The  seventh  child  was  Henry, 
named  for  the  little  boy  who  had  died,  and  the 
eighth  child  was  Porter  Clay. 

The  Reverend  John  Clay  died  in  1781,  when  his 
son  Henry  was  between  four  and  five  years  old.  A 
short  time  after  his  father's  death,  the  boy  was  sent 
to  the  country  school  in  the  neighborhood,  taught 
by  an  Englishman  named  Peter  Deacon.  Here  he 
learned  reading,  writing,  and  a  very  little  arithme 
tic.  In  this  log  schoolhouse  in  the  ''Slashes,"  the 
only  school  he  ever  attended,  he  spent  three  years, 

1  Private  Correspondence  of  Henry  Clay,  edited  by  Calvin  Colton. 


18  HENRY  CLAY 

and  of  its  master  he  always  had  the  kindliest  recol 
lections. 

After  leaving  this  school  he  lived  with  his  mother 
on  the  little  farm  which  was  their  home,  and  as 
sisted  her  in  such  duties  as  a  boy  of  his  age  could 
perform,  being  often  seen  on  his  way  to  a  neighbor 
ing  mill  with  a  bag  of  grain  j  wherefore  his  popular 
title  later  in  political  campaigns  of  the  "  Mill  Boy 
of  the  Slashes." 

Ten  years  after  the  death  of  John  Clay,  Mrs.  Clay 
married  Henry  Watkius,  the  younger  brother  of 
her  sister  Mary's  husband.  Captain  Watkius  has 
been  described  as  "an  elegant,  accomplished  gentle 
man,  of  good  blood,  and  of  goodly  wealth,'7  and  he 
was  a  kind  stepfather  to  the  young  Clays.  When 
Henry  was  fourteen  years  of  age  Captain  Watkius 
procured  for  him  a  situation  as  clerk  in  a  small 
store  for  general  merchandise,  in  Kichniond,  kept 
by  Richard  Denny,  and  here  he  remained  one  year. 

In  his  stepson  Captain  Watkius  seems  to  have 
felt  special  interest,  and  soon  realized  that  he  de 
served  better  opportunities  than  could  be  met  with 
in  Mr.  Denny's  little  store.  Through  the  aid  of  his 
friend,  Colonel  Thomas  Tiusley,  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  he  obtained  for  the 
boy  a  clerkship  in  the  office  of  Tinsley's  brother, 
Peter,  who  was  Clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery 
of  which  George  Wythe  was  Chancellor.  The  latter 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Mr.  Tinsley's  office,  where 
he  noticed  the  diligence  of  the  young  clerk,  and 
also  his  neat  penmanship.  He  needed  an  amanuensis 
for  writing  out  and  recording  the  decisions  of  the 
court,  so  he  secured  the  services  of  Clay,  who  still 


EAELY  YEAES  19 

retained  his  place  with  Mr.  Tinsley,  the  under 
standing  being  that  he  was  to  be  at  the  chancellor's 
service  upon  demand.  This  arrangement  lasted  for 
nearly  four  years  when,  by  the  advice  of  Chancellor 
Wythe,  he  took  up  the  study  of  law  in  the  office 
of  Attorney-General  Brooke,  who  was  afterward 
Governor  of  Virginia.  For  a  year  he  was  an  in 
mate  of  that  gentleman's  home.  This  association 
was  of  infinite  value  to  the  young  man,  as  through 
it  he  mingled  with  the  best  society  of  Eichmoud, 
and  his  character  and  manners  were  fashioned  to 
the  chivalric  standards  of  "Old  Virginia." 

His  faithful  work,  his  intelligence,  his  courtesy 
and  engaging  manners  secured  for  him  the  most 
friendly  consideration  of  Chancellor  Wythe,  who  di 
rected  his  reading  and  studies,  and  placed  his  own 
library  at  the  youth's  disposal.  Nearly  every  day 
in  the  chancellor's  office  he  met  the  most  distin 
guished  men  of  Virginia,  many  of  whom  had  served 
in  the  councils  of  the  nation  during  the  troublous 
times  of  the  Eevolution.  Twice  he  had  the  extreme 
good  fortune  to  hear  Patrick  Henry,  whose  birth 
and  beginnings  were  also  in  Hanover  County. 
u  Above  all,  in  these  relations,"  says  Eobert  C. 
Wiuthrop,  "he  acquired  the  friendship  of  George 
Wythe,  who  was  not  only  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  a  distinguished 
member  of  the  Virginia  convention  which  ratified 
the  Federal  Constitution,  of  which  he  was  an  earnest 
advocate  and  supporter,  but  who  signalized  his  love 
of  human  freedom  by  emancipating  all  his  negroes 
before  his  own  death  and  making  provision  for  their 
subsistence.  The  influence  of  such  a  friendship  and 


• 


20  HENRY  CLAY 

such  an  example  could  hardly  fail  to  manifest  itself 
in  the  future  of  any  one  who  enjoyed  it.  It  was 
better  than  an  education. "  * 

In  1792,  shortly  after  Henry  Clay  was  established 
in  Mr.  Tinsley's  office,  Captain  Watkins  with  his 
family  removed  to  Kentucky  which  had  just  been 
admitted  into  the  Union.  Even  as  late  as  1792  the 
journey  from  Hanover,  Virginia,  to  Kentucky  was 
no  small  undertaking.  The  roads  were  mere  trails 
and  bands  of  roving  Indians  were  frequently  en 
countered,  but  the  party  arrived  safely  in  Woodford 
County,  where  they  resided  for  many  years.  With 
Captain  Watkius  and  his  wife  came  her  two  sous, 
John  and  Porter  Clay.  The  latter,  the  youngest  of 
the  Clay  children,  was  apprenticed  to  a  cabinet 
maker,  and  in  the  Kentucke*  Gazette  of  December  7, 
1805,  appears  his  advertisement  as  a  chair  and  cab 
inet-maker.  He  was  a  man  of  great  piety  and  late  in 
life  became  a  Baptist  minister.  Eemoviug  to  Mis 
souri,  he  preached  the  first  English  sermon  ever 
preached  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  He  died  on 
December  30,  1849,  at  Camden,  Ark. 

Henry  Clay  studied  law  for  one  year  and  was  ad 
mitted  to  practice  in  the  Virginia  Court  of  Appeals 
in  1797,  shortly  afterward  changing  his  residence 
to  Lexington,  Ky.  He  had  felt  the  separation  from 
his  mother,  and  the  longing  to  be  near  her  induced 
him  to  follow  her  over  the  mountains.  She  was  a 
woman  of  great  vigor  of  mind,  warm-hearted  and 


1  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Memoir  of  Henry  Clay.  For  a  succinct 
account  of  the  life  of  this  able  Virgiuian  see  Sanderson's  Biog 
raphies  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

3  The  early  spelling. 


EAKLY  YEARS  21 

imperious,  loving  to  her  children  and  a  devoted 
friend.  She  died  in  1829  in  the  eightieth  year  of  her 
age,  and  was  buried  in  the  country  graveyard  near 
her  home.  In  1851,  the  year  before  his  death,  Henry 
Clay  had  her  remains  removed  to  the  beautiful  ceme 
tery  on  the  outskirts  of  Lexington  and  placed  in  his 
lot  there.  Over  her  grave  he  caused  to  be  erected 
a  simple  monument  of  Italian  marble  with  this  in 
scription  upon  it : 

Elizabeth  Watkim 

Formerly 

Elizabeth  Clay 

Born  1750 

Died  1829. 

This  monument,  a  tribute  to  her  many  domestic  virtues 
Has  been  prompted  by  the  filial  affection  and  veneration 
Of  one  of  her  grateful  sons 
H.  CLAY. 

Henry  Clay  arrived  in  Lexington  in  November, 

1797,  but  he  did  not  immediately  begin  to  practice 
his  profession,  wisely  waiting  until  he  could  become 
familiar  with  the  statutes  of  Kentucky,  and  with 
the   peculiarities   of  local   procedure.     In  March, 

1798,  the  following  entry  appears  in  the  order-book 
of  the  Lexington  District  Court : 

"  Henry  Clay,  Esquire,  produced  in  Court  a 
license  and  on  his  motion  is  permitted  to  practice 
as  an  Attorney- at- Law  in  this  Court,  and  thereupon 
took  the  several  oaths  by  Law  prescribed." 

For  several  mouths  he  devoted  himself  to  further 
study  of  the  law,  and  he  joined  a  debating  society 
whose  proceedings  were  open  to  the  public,  and  were 
attended  by  "the  fashion  and  intelligence  of  the 


22  HENRY  CLAY 

town."  He  was  sooii  admired  and  courted  by  the 
people.  In  his  farewell  address  to  the  Senate  in 
1842  he  said  :  u  Scarce  had  I  set  my  foot  on  her 
[Kentucky's]  generous  soil  when  I  was  seized  and 
embraced  with  parental  fondness,  caressed  as  though 
a  favorite  child,  and  patronized  with  liberal  and  un 
bounded  munificence." 

On  all  public  occasions  he  was  greatly  sought  for, 
and  this  notice  appears  in  the  Kentucke  Gazette  of 
July  10,  1800  :  "  Friday  last  being  the  anniversary 
of  American  Independence,  it  was  celebrated  in  this 
place  with  the  usual  joy  and  enthusiasm.  At  twelve 
o'clock  the  volunteer  companies  of  Infantry  and 
Horse  assembled  at  the  Public  Square,  attended  by  a 
considerable  concourse  of  citizens.  They  proceeded 
to  the  Court- House,  where  an  eloquent  oration  was 
delivered  by  Henry  Clay,  Esquire." 

When  Henry  Clay  changed  his  home  from  Rich 
mond,  Va.,  to  Lexington,  Ky.,  that  town  was  al 
ready  a  place  of  importance.  It  was  the  capital  of 
the  "  blue  grass  country"  and  was  surrounded  then, 
as  now,  by  broad  and  beautiful  lauds.  Its  very  name 
no  doubt  contributed  to  its  fame,  as  it  was  a  patri 
otic  memorial  of  the  first  battle-ground  of  the  Revo 
lution  by  a  few  hunters  who  had  established  their 
camp-fires  there.  The  hardy  pioneer  settlers  were 
followed  by  a  development  of  culture  which  was 
probably  not  surpassed  in  any  town  west  of  the  Al- 
leghanies  at  that  early  day.  In  it  was  published  the 
first  newspaper  beyond  the  mountains,  the  Kentucke 
Gazette,  established  in  1787  ;  and  the  first  library 
in  the  West  was  started  there  in  1795.  The  society 
of  the  town  was  intelligent  and  cultivated,  and  the 


EARLY  YEARS  23 

bar  of  Lexington  at  that  time  was  composed  of  a 
high  type  of  able  men.  It  was  also  a  place  of  com 
mercial  importance  and  a  manufacturing  centre. 
As  early  as  1797  it  possessed  a  "  public  theatre  and 
a  company  of  actors."  In  the  Navigator,  published 
in  Pittsburg  in  1801,  this  description  of  the  town 
appears  :  i  '  Lexington,  in  fact,  is  a  place  of  great 
business,  and  the  inhabitants  seem  peculiarly  and 
happily  calculated  to  enjoy  their  situation,  and  the 
hospitality  and  friendship  of  each  other.  The 
prevailing  disposition  in  the  people  makes  the 
place  very  lively  and  highly  agreeable  to 
strangers. ' ' 

A  student  of  the  times  says:  "  The  society  of 
those  early  days  was  primitive  only  in  the  sense  of 
being  somewhat  colored  by  its  primitive  environ 
ment,  and  in  possessing  certain  uncouth  elements 
inseparable  to  a  frontier  settlement.  It  was  far  from 
being  immature,  or  unpolished,  or  illiterate.  The 
settlers  brought  with  them  the  high  ideals  of  the 
1  Old  Dominion. '  The  husbands  and  brothers  came 
fresh  from  the  training  hands  of  the  most  vigorous 
and  intellectual  race  of  men  the  world  has  ever  seen, 
and  in  not  a  few  instances  the  pupils  had  outstripped 
their  masters."  l 

One  of  the  members  of  the  Lexington  bar  was 
George  Nicholas,  a  statesman  as  well  as  an  eminent 
lawyer.  "  His  powers  of  argumentation,"  it  is  re 
lated,  "were  of  the  highest  order  and  his  knowl 
edge  of  the  laws  and  institutions  of  his  country 
placed  him  in  the  first  rank  of  distinguished  men 
by  whose  wisdom  and  patriotism  they  were  estab- 
1  Samuel  M.  Wilson,  Early  Bar  of  Fayette  County. 


24  HENKY  CLAY 

lished.  A  member  of  the  [Virginia]  convention 
that  ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
he  was  the  associate  of  Madison,  of  Eaudolph,  and 
of  Patrick  Henry,  and  he  came  to  Kentucky  in  the 
fulness  of  his  fame  and  in  the  maturity  of  his  intel 
lectual  strength."  l  He  was  the  first  Attorney  - 
General  of  Kentucky,  appointed  by  Isaac  Shelby, 
the  first  Governor,  and  Humphrey  Marshall  in  his 
History  of  Kentucky,  said  of  him  :  "If  the  Consti 
tution  of  Kentucky  could  be  ascribed  to  any  one 
man,  it  should  doubtless  be  to  Colonel  George 
Nicholas,  who  took  the  lead  in  the  convention  to 
which  he  was  justly  entitled  by  his  superiority  of 
talents  and  acquirements,  in  the  use  of  which  he 
was  known  to  be  liberal.  The  resemblance  observ 
able  in  the  Constitution  of  Kentucky  to  that  of  the 
United  States  may  be  accounted  for  by  his  admira 
tion  of  the  merits  of  the  original,  and  the  distin 
guished  part  he  had  taken  in  the  convention  of 
Virginia  in  favour  of  its  adoption." 

Another  member  of  the  bar  was  John  Breckin- 
ridge,  who  became  Attorney -General  under  Presi 
dent  Jefferson.  As  a  lawyer  none  excelled  him  and 
few  were  his  equals. 

James  Brown,  the  first  Secretary  of  State  of 
Kentucky,  was  also  a  member  of  the  Lexington 
bar  at  this  time.  He  was  a  man  of  great  culture 
and  legal  ability.  After  the  purchase  of  Louisiana 
he  removed  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  aided  Edward 
Livingston  to  prepare  the  Civil  Code  of  Louisiana. 
He  was  twice  a  United  States  senator  from  Louisiana, 
and  he  was  appointed  by  President  Monroe  MID  later 
1From  a  speech  by  Governor  Charles  Morehead. 


EAELY  YEABS  25 

to  France,  being  continued  in  that  office  by  Presi 
dent  John  Quincy  Adams. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  member  of  the 
group,  however,  was  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess.,  who 
at  twenty -five  was  considered  to  have  the  best  judi 
cial  mind  in  Kentucky,  and  who  was  the  first  lawyer 
from  the  West  to  make  a  speech  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States. 

Such  were  the  men  among  whom  Henry  Clay 
began  the  practice  of  law.  He  himself  said  in  a 
speech  made  at  Lexington  on  June  6,  1842  :  u  I 
obtained  a  license  to  practice  the  profession  from  the 
judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Virginia  and 
established  myself  in  Lexington  in  1797,  without 
patrons,  without  the  means  of  paying  my  weekly 
board,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  bar  uncommonly  dis 
tinguished  by  eminent  members. " 

At  this  time  there  was  much  litigation  over  the 
titles  of  laud  which  had  been  granted  by  Virginia 
to  settlers  in  Kentucky.  Many  of  these  grants  were 
made  to  soldiers  who  had  served  in  the  Ee  volution - 
ary  War,  and  the  land  had  never  been  surveyed  and 
was  not  definitely  indicated  by  the  warrants,  "  two 
white  oaks  and  a  sugar-tree"  being  considered 
sufficient  marks  in  many  instances.  Sometimes 
half  a  dozen  grants  covered  the  same  area  and  the 
courts  were  filled  with  suits  involving  the  land  laws 
of  Virginia  and  Kentucky.  In  the  settlement  of 
these  claims  Henry  Clay  won  much  distinction,  and 
in  criminal  cases  also  his  ability  was  unusual,  it 
being  shown  in  the  records  of  the  courts  wherein  he 
practiced  that  no  prisoner  ever  defended  by  him 
received  capital  punishment.  ' '  I  immediately 


26  HENKY  CLAY 

rushed  into  a  successful  and  lucrative  practice,"  he 
said,  in  1842,  in  recalling  his  early  years  at  the 
Lexington  bar.  "  When  I  was  a  youth,"  writes 
James  O.  Harrison  in  his  "Reminiscences  of  Mr. 
Clay,  "  I  was  curious  to  learn,  from  those  who  had 
heard  his  early  efforts,  the  impression  he  made  on 
the  public  at  the  beginning  of  his  career.  i  He  was 
great  from  the  beginning,'  was  the  general  reply."  ' 

So  sudden  a  success  would  be  difficult  to  under 
stand  without  a  knowledge  of  the  personality  of  the 
man.  On  this  subject  Mr.  Harrison  continues  : 

11  Mr.  Clay  was  six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  with 
out  being  fleshy  or  bulky  and  was  of  commanding 
presence,  especially  when  aroused.  Though  his 
long  limbs  were  somewhat  loosely  put  together,  yet 
he  was  never  awkward  or  seemingly  embarrassed. 
His  complexion  was  unusually  fair,  his  eyes  were 
gray  and  when  excited  full  of  fire.  His  forehead 
was  high,  with  a  tendency  to  baldness,  his  nose  was 
prominent  and  very  slightly  arched  and  finely 
formed.  His  mouth  was  unusually  large — a  long 
and  deep  horizontal  cut — without  being  uncouth, 
and  his  hair,  when  a  young  man,  exceedingly  white. 
If  ever  there  was  magnetism  in  the  human  voice  it 
was  in  his.  Its  tone  always  harmonized  with  the 
tone  of  his  emotion,  and  never  failed  to  rivet  atten 
tion  and  touch  the  heart.  Strangers,  persons  who 
never  saw  him  and  who,  of  course,  never  felt  the 
potency  of  his  presence  and  manner,  can  hardly 
understand  the  sort  of  impression  made  on  others  by 
what  was  called  the  magnetism  of  the  man. 

"He  was  naturally  sympathetic,  hopeful,  buoy- 
1  Mr.  Harrison's  MS.  Memoirs. 


EAELY  YEAES  27 

ant.  He  was  not  subject  to  moods  of  despond 
ency,  or  gloom,  though  during  his  long  life  he  had 
many  heavy  afflictions  to  meet  and  to  bear.  His 
buoyancy,  so  characteristic  of  the  man  in  his  prime, 
never  died  out,  though  tempered  by  time.  It  gave 
charming  freshness  to  his  conversation  even  when 
sinking  under  the  heaviness  of  age.  Whatever  the 
occasion  or  his  mood,  or  whatever  the  company  or 
subject  of  conversation,  there  was  something  in  his 
presence  and  manner  which  impressed  those  around 
him  that  within  his  personality  and  beneath  that 
manner  there  was  a  power,  a  force  of  character  to 
be  respected,  feared,  followed  and  honored.  Had 
this  quiet  force  been  arrogantly,  or  ostentatiously 
displayed,  it  would  have  broken  the  charm  that 
made  him  so  attractive  and  at  the  same  time  so 
commanding."  * 

Among  the  early  settlers  of  Lexington  was 
Colonel  Thomas  Hart,  who  had  come  to  Kentucky 
from  Hagerstown,  Md.,  in  1794.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  famous  Henderson  Company,  which  accom 
plished  so  much  for  the  early  colonization  of  Ken 
tucky,  and  he  was  the  owner  of  vast  tracts  of  land 
there  and  in  Tennessee.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in 
the  West  he  became  a  resident  of  Lexington,  where 
he  established  himself  as  a  merchant  and  a  trader. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  enterprise  and  integrity,  and 
a  public -spirited  citizen.  The  doors  of  his  hospi 
table  home  were  always  open  to  friend  and  stranger, 
and  perhaps  no  one  had  a  wider  acquaintance  all 
through  the  Western  country,  where  he  was  held  in 
high  esteem.  In  1797  he  organized  and  became  the 

1  Mr.  Harrison's  MS. 


28  HENEY  CLAY 

president  of  a  society  called  the  " Lexington  Emi 
gration  Society"  whose  object  was  to  give  infoi- 
inatioD  concerning  the  land  about  the  town,  and  to 
oiler  inducements  to  industrious  farmers  and 
mechanics  to  settle  in  that  region. 

On  April  11,  1797,  two  years  after  Lexington  be 
came  his  home,  Henry  Clay  married  Lucretia  Hart, 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  Hart,  She  was  born  i  i 
Hagerstown,  March  18,  1781,  and  at  the  time  of  her 
marriage  she  was  eighteen,  while  her  husband  was 
twenty-two  years  old.  The  house  in  which  they 
were  married  still  stands  on  one  of  the  quiet  streets 
of  Lexington. 

Mrs.  Clay  was  a  woman  of  great  dignity,  and, 
though  never  a  beauty,  she  always  attracted  atten 
tion  and  inspired  respect.  During  the  early  years 
of  her  husband's  official  residence  in  Washington 
she  lived  there,  and  while  Mr.  Clay  was  Secretary  of 
State  the  weekly  levees  were  held  alternately  at  the 
President's  and  at  his  house.  "Ashland,"  the 
beautiful  home  in  Kentucky,  was  purchased  in  180G 
and  of  it  Mr.  Clay  once  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  1  am 
in  one  respect  better  off  than  Moses.  He  died  in 
sight  of  and  without  reaching  the  Promised  Land. 
1  occupy  as  good  a  farm  as  any  he  would  have  found 
had  he  reached  it,  and  '  Ashland '  has  been  acquired, 
not  by  hereditary  descent  but  by  my  own  labor." 

This  home  is  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  the 
court-house  in  Lexington  and  is  surrounded  by 
beautiful  lawns  whose  towering  trees  have  sheltered 
many  distinguished  guests  attracted  thither  by  the 
fame  of  Henry  ("lay.  It  is  of  her  visit  to  u  Ash 
land  "  in  1835  that  Harriet  Martineau  wrote  : 


EAELY  YEARS  29 

"  I  stayed  some  weeks  in  the  bouse  of  a  wealthy 
landowner  in  Kentucky.  Our  days  were  passed  in 
great  luxury,  and  the  hottest  of  them  very  idly. 
The  house  was  in  the  midst  of  grounds  gay  with 
verdure  and  flowers,  in  the  opening  month  of  June, 
and  our  favorite  seats  were  the  steps  of  the  hall,  and 
chairs  under  the  trees.  From  there  we  could  watch 
the  play  of  the  children  on  the  grass-plat,  and  some 
of  the  drolleries  of  the  little  negroes.  The  redbird 
and  the  bluebird  flew  close  by  ;  the  black  and  white 
woodpecker  with  crimson  head  tapped  at  all  the 
tree-trunks,  as  if  we  were  no  interruption.  We 
relished  the  table  fare  after  that  with  which  we  had 
been  obliged  to  content  ourselves  on  board  the  steam 
boats.  Tender  meats,  fresh  vegetables,  good  claret 
and  champagne,  with  the  daily  piles  of  strawberries 
and  towers  of  ice-cream  were  welcome  luxuries. f 
There  were  thirty -three  horses  in  the  stables,  and  we 
roved  about  the  neighboring  country  accordingly. 
There  was  more  literature  at  hand  than  time  to  profit 
by  it.  Books  could  be  had  at  home ;  but  not  the 
woods  of  Kentucky  ; — clear  sunny  woods  with  maple 
and  sycamore  springing  up  to  a  height  which  makes 
man  seem  dwarfish.  The  glades  with  their  turf  so 
clean,  every  fallen  leaf  having  been  absorbed,  re 
minded  me  of  Ivanhoe.  I  almost  looked  for  Gurth 
in  my  rambles.  All  this  was,  not  many  years  ago, 
one  vast  cane-brake,  with  a  multitude  of  buffalo  and 
deer,  the  pea-vine  spreading  everywhere,  and  the 
fertility  even  greater  than  now."  ] 

For  nearly  fifty  years  the  beautifying  of  "  Ash 
land  "  was  a  labor  of  love  with  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
1  Harriet  Martineau,  Society  in  America,  Vol.  I,  p.  139. 


30  HENKY  CLAY 

Clay,  and  many  of  the  fine  trees  which  still  orna 
ment  the  spacious  lawns  were  planted  by  him.  He 
was  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to  agri 
culture,  and  he  made  many  horticultural  experi 
ments.  He  was  extremely  fond  of  flowers  and  his 
taste  for  ornamental  trees  and  plants  was  an  inspira 
tion  to  his  neighbors  and  acquaintances.  He  look 
great  pride  also  in  his  horses  and  cattle,  and  was  in 
terested  in  the  importation  of  fine  stock  from  Eng 
land. 

The  home  needed  the  wise  care  of  its  owner  and 
as  Mr.  Clay's  public  services  required  him  to  be  ab 
sent,  Mrs.  Clay  gladly  undertook  its  management. 
No  woman  ever  was  better  qualified  for  the  per 
formance  of  the  various  duties  which  devolved  upon 
her.  She  was  said  to  be  as  good  a  farmer  as  her 
husband,  and  no  farmer  in  Fayette  County  excelled 
him.  A  farm  of  six  hundred  acres,  with  the  added 
care  of  the  servants  belonging  to  the  place,  was  a 
heavy  burden  for  a  woman  to  bear,  and  of  her  Mr. 
Clay  said  at  "  Ashland,"  when  expressing  thanks 
for  a  gift  which  had  been  made  to  her  by  some  of  his 
admirers:  "I  have  been  so  long  and  deeply 
absorbed  in  public  affairs  as  to  be  compelled  to  sur 
render  to  this  beloved  partner  of  my  joys  and  sor 
rows  the  almost  sole  management  of  our  domestic 
concerns ;  and  how  diligently,  how  nobly  she  has 
performed  the  duties  thus  devolved  upon  her  can 
be  known  to  no  mortal  save  myself  alone.  Why, 
my  friends,  again  and  again  has  she  saved  our  home 
from  bankruptcy." 

Always  reserved  in  manner,  this  characteristic  in 
creased  with  age,  and  after  the  death  of  her  husband, 


EARLY  YEAKS  31 

her  life  was  quiet  and  secluded.     She  died  on  April 
6,  1864. 

Eleven  children  were  born  to  them,  six  daughters 
and  five  SODS.  Two  of  the  daughters  died  in  infancy 
and  two  in  childhood,  one,  Eliza  H. ,  at  the .  age  of 
twelve,  during  a  journey  to  Washington  in  1825. 
She  was  buried  in  a  little  Baptist  churchyard  in 
Lebanon,  O.,  and  later  was  remterred  in  the  cemetery 
at  Lexington.  The  fourth  child,  Susan  Hart,  mar 
ried  Martin  Duralde  of  New  Orleans  and  early  died 
there,  leaving  two  sons.  The  fifth  child  was  Ann, 
who  married  James  Erwin,  of  New  Orleans.  Her 
beautiful  summer  home  in  Kentucky  adjoined 
' i  Ashland ' '  and  there  was  daily  intercourse  between 
the  two  households.  Mrs.  Erwin  was  a  woman  of 
rare  charm,  accomplished  and  brilliant,  and  more 
like  her  father  in  intellect  than  any  of  his  children. 
She  died  suddenly  in  New  Orleans  in  December, 
1835,  and  of  this  sad  event  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison 
Smith,  who  knew  the  family  intimately,  wrote  to  a 
friend  :  * '  Poor  Mr.  Clay  was  laughing  and  talking 
and  joking  with  some  friends  when  his  papers  and 
letters  were  brought  to  him.  He  naturally  first 
opened  the  letter  from  home.  A  friend  who  was 
with  him  says  his  first  words  were,  l  Every  tie  to  life 
is  broken. J  He  continued  that  day  in  almost  a  state 
of  distraction,  but  has,  I  am  told,  become  more  com 
posed  though  in  the  deepest  affliction.  Ann  was  his 
pride,  as  well  as  his  joy,  and  of  all  his  children  his 
greatest  comfort.  She  was  my  favorite,  so  frank, > 
gay  and  warm-hearted. "  1 

1  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison  Smith,  First  Forty  Years  of  Washing 
ton  Society,  p.  375. 


32  HENEY  CLAY 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Smith,  expressing 
her  sympathy,  Mr.  Clay  wrote  from  Washington  on 
December  31,  1835  : 

"  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  this  date.  From 
no  friend  could  condolence  on  the  occasion  of  my 
recent  heavy  loss  have  come  more  welcomely,  but, 
dear  madam,  all  the  efforts  of  friendship,  or  of  my 
own  mind  have  but  little  effect  on  a  heart  wounded 
as  mine  is.  My  daughter  was  so  good,  so  dutiful, 
so  affectionate,  her  tastes  and  sympathies,  and  amuse 
ments  were  so  identical  with  my  own ;  she  was  so 
interwoven  with  every  plan  and  prospect  of  passing 
the  remnant  of  my  days,  that  I  feel  that  I  have 
sustained  a  loss  which  can  never  be  repaired. 
Henceforth  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  but 
duties." 

The  eldest  son,  Theodore  Wythe,  in  consequence 
of  an  injury,  became  insane,  and  many  years  of  his 
life  were  spent  in  an  asylum  at  Lexington,  where  he 
died  in  1870. 

Thomas  Hart  Clay,  the  second  son,  lived  on  a 
farm  adjoining  "  Ashland,"  and  his  hospitable 
home,  "  Mansfield,"  was  always  a  happy  gathering 
place.  He  represented  Fayette  County  in  the  legis 
lature,  and  was  appointed  by  President  Lincoln 
Minister  to  Nicaragua,  being  later  transferred  to 
Honduras.  He  died  at  "Mansfield,"  March  18, 
1871. 

James  Brown  Clay,  the  third  son,  was  a  lawyer 
of  ability,  and  at  one  time  was  the  partner  of  his 
father.  He  represented  the  United  Slates  in  Portu 
gal  in  1849  and  1850,  having  been  appointed  to  the 
post  by  President  Taylor.  After  the  death  of  his 


EARLY  YEAES  33 

father,  u  Ashland  "  became  his  home.  He  was  a 
member  of  Congress  for  one  term  just  before  the 
Civil  War.  He  died  in  1864. 

The  fourth  son,  Henry,  was  Lieutenant- Colonel 
of  the  Second  Kentucky  Regiment  in  the  Mexican 
War  and  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  in 
1847. 

The  youngest  sou  was  John  Morrison  Clay,  who 
became  a  farmer  and  his  home  was  a  part  of  "  Ash 
land."  He  died  in  1887. 


CHAPTEE  II 

ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE 

DURING  the  session  of  the  Kentucky  legislature, 
in  1798,  a  law  was  passed  authorizing  a  convention 
to  propose  amendments  to  the  state  constitution, 
and  one  measure  which  caused  much  discussion  in 
public  meetings  and  called  for  many  communica 
tions,  printed  in  the  Kentucky  Gazette,  was  that  con 
cerning  slavery. 

The  Gazette  was  the  only  newspaper  published 
within  five  hundred  miles  of  Lexington  and  all  dis 
cussions  of  public  interest  were  carried  on  in  its  col 
umns.  In  a  number  of  letters  signed  "Scaevola," 
Henry  Clay  earnestly  advocated  an  amendment  to 
the  constitution  which  would  set  the  slaves  free. 
In  speeches  throughout  central  Kentucky  and  in  his 
communications  to  the  press,  he  urged  gradual 
emancipation,  and,  though  he  excited  the  prejudices 
of  many  and  failed  in  his  endeavor,  he  did  not  coase 
to  defend  his  views.  Pie  was  aware  that  this  was  a 
most  unpopular  measure,  "  yet,  such  was  the  frank 
ness  and  manliness  of  his  nature,  and  so  controlling 
his  convictions  as  to  the  evils  of  slavery,  that  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  stem  the  current  on  that  absorbing 
question. "  !  He  said  in  a  speech  made  at  Frankfort, 
at  the  anniversary  of  the  Kentucky  Colonization 
Society,  December  17,  1829,  in  reference  to  these 

1  Mr.  Harrison's  MS. 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          35 

early  anti-slavery  efforts  :  "  More  than  thirty  years 
ago  an  attempt  was  made,  in  this  commonwealth,  to 
adopt  a  system  of  gradual  emancipation,  similar  to 
that  which  the  illustrious  Franklin  had  mainly 
contributed  to  introduce,  in  1780,  in  the  state 
founded  by  the  benevolent  Penn.  And  among  the 
acts  of  my  life,  which  I  look  back  to  with  most 
satisfaction,  is  that  of  my  having  cooperated  with 
other  zealous  and  intelligent  friends  to  procure  the 
establishment  of  that  system  in  this  state.  .  .  . 
We  were  overpowered  by  numbers,  but  submitted 
to  the  decision  of  the  majority  with  a  grace  which 
the  minority  in  a  republic  should  ever  yield  to  such 
a  decision." 

The  passage  by  Congress  in  1798  of  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  Laws  was  strongly  resented  by  the  majority 
of  Kentuckians,  and  Governor  Garrard,  in  his  mes 
sage  to  the  legislature,  expressed  the  opinion  of  the 
people  when  he  denounced  the  measures  as  "  un 
constitutional  and  dangerous  to  public  liberty." 
Meetings  were  held  in  all  parts  of  the  state  to  take 
action  against  them,  and  Henry  Clay  made  his  first 
appearance  in  political  life  while  addressing  the 
people  of  Lexington  in  opposition  to  them.  A  large 
crowd  had  assembled  in  a  grove  near  the  town  and, 
as  was  customary  in  political  discussions  at  an 
earlier  day,  speakers  were  at  hand  on  the  same 
platform  to  present  arguments  upon  both  sides  of 
the  subject.  The  first  address  was  made  by  the 
distinguished  Lexington  lawyer,  George  Nicholas, 
who  denounced  the  favorite  laws  of  John  Adams,  so 
soon  destined  to  ruin  his  political  future  and  make 
an  end  to  the  old  Federal  party.  When  he  had 


36  HENBY  CLAY 

concluded,  the  crowd  called,  "Clay!  Clay!"  and 
the  young  man  mounted  the  stand.  He  made  a 
speech  which  is  said  to  have  moved  the  people  as 
nothing  had  ever  done  in  the  annals  of  oratory  in 
that  neighborhood.  The  Federalist  who  followed 
found  it  impossible  to  proceed ;  it  was  difficult  in 
deed  for  him  to  escape  from  the  wrought-up  pop 
ulace  without  suffering  personal  injury.  Clay  and 
Nicholas  were  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
crowd  and  placed  in  a  carriage,  to  be  drawn  amid 
great  cheering  through  the  streets  of  Lexington.1 
His  attitude  in  opposition  to  these  measures,  meant 
to  be  so  restrictive  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people, 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  career  which  long 
caused  him  to  be  known  as  the  u  Great  Commoner." 
In  the  summer  of  1803,  while  Henry  Clay  was 
absent  from  Lexington  visiting  the  Olympian 
Springs,  then,  as  now,  a  fashionable  watering-place 
about  forty  miles  from  the  city,  he  was  nominated 
to  represent  Fayette  County  in  the  state  legislature. 
This  nomination  was  made  without  any  solicitation 
on  his  part  and  indeed  without  his  knowledge  or 
consent.  He  had  shown  ability  as  a  young  lawyer 
and  had  also  i  i  caught  the  eye  and  charmed  the  ear 
by  the  fascination  of  his  manner  and  the  melody  of 
his  voice"  ;  so  it  was  decided  by  his  fellow  citizens 
that  he  could  best  represent  the  county  in  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives.  At  first  there  seemed  little 
chance  of  his  election.  His  opponents  had  already 
made  great  headway  in  the  canvass,  having  taken 
every  advantage  of  his  absence.  Learning  that 
many  were  determined  to  support  him,  Mr.  Clay 
1  Mallory,  Life  and  Speeches,  Vol.  I,  p.  17. 


ENTKANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          37 

returned  home  aiid  addressed  the  people.  Elections 
at  that  time  and  for  many  years  after  covered  three 
days,  and  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of  the  second 
day  that  he  reached  Lexington.  He  was  chosen 
almost  by  acclamation,  we  are  told,  and  never  thence 
forth  was  his  name  presented  to  the  people  of  Fay- 
ette  County,  the  "  Ashland  District,"  that  they  did 
not  give  him  their  votes  with  the  most  enthusiastic 
devotion  in  an  overwhelming  majority. 

One  of  the  causes  of  his  election  was  his  advocacy 
of  the  Lexington  Insurance  Company.  This  com 
pany  had  been  incorporated  in  1802  with  the  object 
of  encouraging  the  exteusive  cultivation  of  such 
crops  as  could  be  shipped  down  the  Ohio  and  Mis 
sissippi,  and  to  insure  the  boats  and  their  cargoes 
from  loss  on  those  rivers.  The  question  of  repeal 
ing  its  charter  had  been  brought  forward  as  an  issue 
of  the  campaign,  and  when  Mr.  Clay  became  aware 
of  this,  he  promptly  decided  to  accept  the  candidacy. 
After  his  election  he  defeated  in  the  legislature 
the  attempt  to  take  away  the  company's  franchises. 

His  opponent  in  the  election  was  Felix  Grundy, 
a  young  lawyer  about  his  own  age,  a  man  of  talent, 
who,  like  himself,  had  gained  reputation  in  the  de 
fense  of  criminal  causes.  In  the  following  year 
Gruudy  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  where  he  re 
vived  the  eifort  to  repeal  the  charter  of  the  insur 
ance  company,  having  secured  during  his  canvass 
pledges  from  other  members  to  vote  with  him.  For 
two  days  these  brilliant  young  men  discussed  the 
question  in  the  House,  and  the  interest  which  they 
created  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Senate,  many 
of  whose  members  were  constantly  in  attendance  on 


38  HENKY  CLAY 

this  debate.  Grundy  was  successful  in  the  House, 
but  when  the  measure  was  presented  to  the  Senate, 
the  decision  was  reversed,  and  the  company  retained 
its  charter.  Clay's  arguments  had  prevailed. 

Felix  Grundy  was  one  of  the  most  influential 
young  members  of  the  Lexington  bar  and  it  was 
through  his  exertions  that  the  circuit  court  system 
was  established  in  Kentucky.  He  removed  to  Ten 
nessee  and  was  a  member  of  Congress  from  that 
state  from  1811  to  1815.  He  was  elected  United 
States  senator  from  Tennessee  in  1829  and  served 
until  1838,  when  he  became  Attorney -General  under 
Van  Buren. 

While  the  legislature  was  in  session  in  1806,  an 
affidavit  was  filed  in  the  District  Court  of  Kentucky 
by  Joseph  Hamilton  Daviess,  charging  Aaron  Burr 
with  treasonable  designs  against  the  United  States, 
and  Mr.  Clay  soon  became  involved  in  the  case  in 
an  historic  manner.  He  had  met  Daviess  before  in 
an  experience  which  narrowly  escaped  being  a 
serious  "  affair  of  honor."  Having  bullied  and  as 
saulted  a  tavern-keeper  of  Kentucky,  Daviess  felt 
affronted  when  Mr.  Clay  took  up  the  case  in  the 
courts.  A  challenge  to  a  duel  was  accepted  by  Mr. 
Clay,  though  by  good  fortune,  through  the  interpo 
sition  of  friends,  the  meeting  was  avoided.  For 
more  than  a  year  Daviess  had  been  quietly  collect 
ing  information  concerning  Burr,  who  had  been  in 
Kentucky  pursuing  his  own  plans,  and  interesting 
many  in  them.  The  sympathies  of  the  people  were 
largely  with  Burr,  whose  magnetism  was  extraordi 
nary  ;  his  fascinations  seemed  to  subdue  all  who 
came  under  their  spell.  He  was  looked  upon  as  a 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          39 

great  democratic  leader.  Daviess  was  a  strong  Fed 
eralist,  a  man  of  marked  eccentricity  of  dress  and 
manner  and  decidedly  unpopular.  His  admiration 
of  Alexander  Hamilton  had  led  him  to  assume  his 
middle  name,  and  it  was  generally  thought  that  he 
was  influenced  in  his  prosecution  of  Burr  by  a 
hatred  aroused  by  Hamilton's  death,  and  that  the 
filing  of  the  affidavit  was  done  more  with  the  pur 
pose  of  harassing  the  man  than  in  an  endeavor  to 
convict  him  of  treason.  Kentucky  was  strongly  de 
voted  to  Thomas  Jefferson  and  little  sympathy  was 
felt  for  so  decided  a  Federalist. 

Henry  Clay  began  his  political  career  as  a  Jeffer- 
sonian  Democrat  and  he  thought  Burr,  who  now 
applied  to  him  to  act  as  his  counsel,  a  persecuted 
man.  Clay  believed  so  implicitly  in  the  innocence 
of  the  accused  that  he  refused  to  accept  any  com 
pensation  for  his  services,  though  Burr  had  written 
from  Louisville,  November  27,  1806:  "  Informa 
tion  has  this  morning  been  given  to  me  that  Mr. 
Daviess  has  recommenced  his  prosecution  and  in 
quiry.  I  must  entreat  your  professional  aid  in  this 
business.  It  would  be  disagreeable  to  me  to  form  a 
new  connection,  and  various  considerations  will,  it 
is  hoped,  induce  you,  even  at  some  personal  incon 
venience,  to  acquiesce  in  my  request.  I  shall,  how 
ever,  insist  on  making  a  liberal  pecuniary  compen 
sation.  ...  I  pray  you  to  repair  to  Frankfort 
on  receipt  of  this. ' ' 

The  case  was  brought  before  the  Federal  court  in 
Frankfort  but  the  most  important  witness  was  ab 
sent  and  no  indictment  was  found.  Some  time  later 
Burr  was  again  arrested  in  Kentucky  and  he  applied 


40  HENRY  CLAY 

to  Mr.  Clay  to  defend  him,  asserting  iu  the  follow 
ing  letter,  dated  Frankfort,  December  1,  1806,  that 
he  was  innocent  of  any  treasonable  purposes  :  u  I 
have  no  design,  nor  have  I  taken  any  measure  to 
promote  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  or  a  separation 
of  any  one  or  more  states  from,  the  residue.  I  have 
neither  published  a  line  on  the  subject,  nor  has  any 
one  through  my  agency,  or  with  rny  knowledge.  1 
have  no  design  to  intermeddle  with  the  government 
or  to  disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  United  States,  or 
of  its  territories,  or  any  part  of  them.  I  have 
neither  issued,  nor  signed,  nor  promised  a  commis 
sion  to  any  person  for  any  purpose.  I  do  not  own 
a  musket,  nor  does  any  person  for  me,  by  my  au 
thority,  or  with  my  knowledge.  My  views  have 
been  fully  explained  to,  and  approved  by  several  of 
the  principal  officers  of  government,  and,  I  believe, 
are  well  understood  by  the  administration,  and  seen 
by  it  with  complacency.  They  are  such  as  every 
man  of  honor  and  every  good  citizen  must  approve. 
Considering  the  high  station  you  now  fill  in  our 
national  councils,  I  have  thought  these  explanations 
proper,  as  well  to  counteract  the  chimerical  tales 
which  malevolent  persons  have  so  industriously  cir 
culated,  as  to  satisfy  you  that  you  have  not  espoused 
the  cause  of  a  man  in  any  way  unfriendly  to  the  laws, 
the  government,  or  the  interests  of  his  country." 

Henry  Clay  had  just  been  elected  by  the  legisla- 
ture  of  Kentucky  a  United  States  senator  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  of  John  Adair,  who  had  resigned, 
and  at  first  he  felt  that  he  could  not  comply  with 
such  a  request  ;  but  he  finally  yielded,  and  Burr 
again  went  free,  the  jury  having  decided  that 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          41 

the  evidence  was  iiot  sufficient  to  indict  him. 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Clay's  arrival  in  Washington  as  a 
senator,  he  was  shown  by  President  Jefferson  a  let 
ter  written  in  cipher  by  Burr,  which  clearly  proved 
the  latter' s  treasonable  designs.  To  his  father-in- 
law,  Colonel  Hart,  Henry  Clay  wrote  from  Wash 
ington  on  February  1,  1807  : 

"  It  seeins  that  we  have  been  much  mistaken  about 
Burr.  When  I  left  Kentucky  I  believed  him  both 
an  innocent  and  a  persecuted  man.  In  the  course 
of  my  journey  to  this  place,  still  entertaining  that 
opinion,  I  expressed  myself  without  reserve,  and  it 
seems  owing  to  the  freedom  of  my  sentiments  at 
Chillicothe  I  have  exposed  myself  to  the  strictures 
of  some  anonymous  writer  at  that  place.  They  give 
me  no  uneasiness  as  I  am  sensible  that  all  my  friends 
and  acquaintances  know  me  incapable  of  entering 
into  the  views  of  Burr.  It  appears  from  the  Presi 
dent's  message  to  Congress,  in  answer  to  the  reso 
lution  of  the  House  of  Representatives  calling  for 
information,  that  Burr  had  formed  the  no  less  dar 
ing  projects  than  to  reduce  New  Orleans,  subju 
gate  Mexico,  and  divide  the  Union.  The  energetic 
measures  taken  by  the  administration  have,  I  pre 
sume,  entirely  defeated  him.  Dr.  Bolleman  and 
Mr.  Swartmout,  two  of  his  most  criminal  agents  at 
New  Orleans,  having  been  arrested  in  that  city  by 
the  military  authority,  were  sent  to  this  place. 
They  have  attempted  to  effect  their  liberation  by  a 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  but  after  a  full  investigation 
of  their  case  they  were  sent  to  jail  by  one  of  the 
courts  of  this  district  for  treason.  When  they  are 
to  be  tried  has  not  yet  been  decided. " 


42  HENEY  CLAY 

Mr.  Clay's  enemies  made  use  of  the  fact  that  he 
had  been  Burr's  attorney  and  charged  him  with  be 
ing  also  Burr's  partisan.  Many  years  afterward  the 
story  was  revived  by  the  Jackson  party.  On  Oc 
tober  15,  1828,  Clay  wrote  from  Washington  to  his 
brother-in-law,  Dr.  Eichard  Pindell,  of  Lexington  : 

"  MY  DEAR  DOCTOR  : 

"I  observe  that  some  of  the  Jackson  party 
in  Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  withdrawing  public 
attention  from  the  alleged  connection  between  Gen 
eral  Jackson  and  Colonel  Burr,  have  gotten  up  a 
charge  against  me  of  participation  in  the  schemes  of 
the  latter.  I  have  not  myself  thought  ft  necessary  to 
notice  this  new  and  groundless  accusation,  but 
prompted  by  the  opinions  of  some  of  my  friends,  and 
actuated  also  by  the  desire  to  vindicate  the  memory 
of  an  inestimable  but  departed  friend,  who  fell  in 
the  military  service  of  his  country,  I  communicate 
the  following  statement  which  you  are  at  liberty  to 
publish. 

"Public  prosecutions  were  commenced  in  the 
Federal  court  of  Kentucky  against  Colonel  Burr,  in 
the  fall  of  1806.  He  applied  to  me,  and  I  engaged 
as  his  counsel,  in  connection  with  the  late  Colonel 
John  Allen,  to  defend  him.  The  prosecutions  were 
conducted  by  the  late  Colonel  Joseph  Hamilton 
Daviess,  a  man  of  genius,  but  of  strong  prejudices, 
who  was  such  an  admirer  of  Colonel  Hamilton  that 
after  he  had  attained  full  age  he  (Colonel  D.) 
adopted  a  part  of  his  name  as  his  own. 

"Both  Colonel  Allen  and  myself  believed  that 
there  was  no  ground  for  the  prosecutions,  and  that 
Colonel  Daviess  was  chiefly  moved  to  institute  them 
by  his  admiration  of  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  his 
hatred  of  Colonel  Burr.  Such  was  our  conviction 
of  the  innocence  of  the  accused  that,  when  he  sent 
us  a  considerable  fee,  we  resolved  to  decline  accept 
ing  it  and  accordingly  returned  it. 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          43 

"  We  said  to  each  other,  Colonel  Burr  has  been 
an  eminent  member  of  the  profession,  has  been  At 
torney-General  of  the  state  of  New  York,  is  prose 
cuted  without  cause  in  a  distant  state,  and  we  ought 
not  to  regard  him  in  the  light  of  an  ordinary  cul 
prit.  The  first  prosecution  entirely  failed.  A  sec 
ond  was  shortly  afterward  instituted.  Between  the 
two  I  was  appointed  a  senator  of  the  United  States. 
In  consequence  of  that  relation  to  the  general  gov 
ernment,  Colonel  Burr,  who  still  wished  me  to  ap 
pear  for  him,  addressed  the  note  to  me  of  which  a 
copy  is  herewith  transmitted.  I  accordingly  again 
appeared  for  him,  with  Colonel  Allen,  and,  when 
the  grand  jury  returned  the  bill  of  indictment  not 
true,  a  scene  was  presented  in  the  court-room  which 
I  had  never  before  witnessed  in  Kentucky.  There 
were  shouts  of  applause  from  an  audience,  not  one 
of  whom,  I  am  persuaded,  would  have  hesitated  to 
level  a  rifle  against  Colonel  Burr,  if  he  believed  that 
he  aimed  to  dismember  the  Union,  or  sought  to 
violate  its  peace,  or  overthrow  its  Constitution. 

"It  is  not  true  that  the  professional  services  of 
either  Colonel  Allen  or  myself  were  volunteered,  al 
though  they  were  gratuitous.  Neither  of  us  were 
acquainted  with  any  illegal  designs  whatever  of  Colo 
nel  Burr.  Both  of  us  were  fully  convinced  of  his 
innocence.  A  better  or  braver  man,  or  a  more  ar 
dent  and  sincere  patriot  than  Colonel  John  Allen 
never  lived.  The  disastrous  field  of  Eaisin  on  which 
he  fell  attests  his  devotion  to  his  country. 

"  The  affidavit  of  a  Mr.  John  Dowling  has  been 
procured  and  published  to  prove  that  I  advised  him 
to  enlist  with  Colonel  Burr,  and  that  I  told  him  that 
I  was  going  with  him  myself.  There  is  not  one 
word  of  truth  in  it  so  far  as  it  related  to  me.  The 
ridiculous  tale  will  be  credited  by  no  one  who  knows 
tooth  of  us.  The  certificate  of  some  highly  respect 
able  men  has  been  procured  as  to  his  character. 
His  affidavit  bears  date  on  the  third,  and  the  certifi- 


44  HENEY  CLAY 

cate,  oil  a  detached  paper,  on  the  fourth  instant  I 
have  no  doubt  that  it  was  obtained  on  false  preten 
ces,  and  with  an  entire  concealment  of  its  object.  I 
was  at  the  period  of  the  last  prosecution  preparing 
to  attend  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  at  the  seat 
of  government,  many  hundred  miles  in  an  opposite 
direction  from  that  in  which  it  afterward  appeared 
Colonel  Burr  was  bound.  So  far  from  my  having 
sent  any  message  to  Mr.  Dowliug  when  I  was  last  in 
Lexington,  I  did  not  then  ever  dream  that  the  ma 
lignity  of  party  spirit  could  fabricate  such  a  charge 
as  has  been  since  put  forth  against  me. 

"It  is  not  true  that  I  was  at  a  ball  given  to  Colo 
nel  Burr  in  Frankfort.  I  was  at  that  time  in 
Lexington.  It  is  not  true  that  he  ever  partook  of 
the  hospitality  of  my  house.  It  was  at  that  time  a 
matter  of  regret  with  me  that  my  professional  en 
gagements,  and  those  connected  with  my  departure 
for  Washington,  did  not  allow  me  to  extend  to  him 
the  hospitality  with  which  it  was  always  my  wont  to 
treat  strangers.  He  never  was  in  my  house,  accord 
ing  to  my  recollection,  but  once,  and  that  was  the 
night  before  I  started  to  this  city,  when,  being  my 
self  a  stranger  in  this  place,  he  delivered  me  some 
letters  of  introduction,  which  I  never  presented. 

"  On  my  arrival  here,  in  December,  1806,  I  be 
came  satisfied,  from  a  letter  in  cypher  to  General 
Wilkinson,  and  from  other  information  communi 
cated  to  me  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  Colonel  Burr  had 
entertained  treasonable  designs.  At  the  request  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  I  delivered  to  him  the  original  note 
from  Colonel  Burr  to  me,  of  which  a  copy  is  now 
forwarded,  and  I  presume  it  is  yet  among  Mr.  Jef 
ferson's  papers.  I  was  furnished  with  a  copy  of  it, 
in  the  handwriting  of  Colonel  Coles,  his  private 
secretary,  which  is  with  my  papers  in  Kentucky. 

11  This,  my  dear  doctor,  is  a  true  and  faithful  ac 
count  of  my  connection  with  Colonel  Burr." 

Mr.  Clay  in  1815,  in  New  York,  soon  after  his  re- 


ENTKANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          45 

turn  from  Ghent,  met  Burr,  who  approached  him 
with  outstretched  hand  which  he  declined  to  accept, 
and  the  two  men  never  saw  each  other  again. 

Years  afterward  Mr.  Clay  was  appealed  to  in  be 
half  of  Mrs.  Blennerhassett,  who  was  old  and  needy, 
and  he  presented  to  Congress  a  memorial  asking  for 
aid  for  her,  but  she  died  in  great  poverty  before  the 
petition  could  be  acted  upon. 

Henry  Clay  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  December 
29, 1806.  He  still  lacked  several  months  of  the  req 
uisite  age,  but  this  disability  seems  not  to  have  oc. 
curred  to  him,  or  to  his  friends  in  the  Kentucky 
legislature,  by  whom  he  was  elected.  He  was  im 
mediately  appointed  to  prominent  places  upon  com 
mittees.  He  wrote  to  his  father-in-law  :  "  My  re 
ception  in  this  place  has  been  equal,  nay,  superior, 
to  my  expectation.  I  have  experienced  the  civility 
and  attention  of  all  whose  acquaintance  I  was  desir 
ous  of  making. " 

Mr.  Clay's  first  speech  in  the  Senate  was  in  ad 
vocacy  of  a  bill  to  provide  for  building  a  bridge 
across  the  Potomac,  of  the  need  of  which  after  in 
vestigation  he  was  convinced.  He  also  advocated 
the  appropriation  of  land  on  the  Kentucky  shore 
for  the  construction  of  a  canal  at  the  Falls  of  the 
Ohio  Eiver,  and  though  the  subject  of  government 
appropriations  for  internal  improvements  was  new,  a 
committee,  of  which  he  was  made  chairman,  was  ap 
pointed  to  consider  this  proposal.  Four  days  after 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  he  offered  a  resolu 
tion  concerning  the  circuit  court  system. 

In  the  letter  to  Colonel  Hart,  from  which  quota 
tions  have  already  been  made,  he  wrote  :  "  I  am 


46  HENKY  CLAY 

attempting  in  Congress  several  things  for  the  good, 
as  I  suppose,  of  our  country.  A  bill  at  my  instance 
has  passed  the  Senate  to  extend  to  Kentucky  and 
the  other  Western  states  the  circuit  court  system 
of  the  United  States.  By  this  measure,  if  it  passes 
the  other  house,  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Ohio  will 
have  the  advantage  of  two  judges  upon  the  Federal 
bench  instead  of  one,  and  the  circuit  judge  who 
presides  in  those  states  will  also  attend  the  superior 
bench,  and  carry  with  him  there  a  knowledge  of  the 
local  laws  and  decisions  of  those  states.  I  have  also 
proposed  a  resolution  to  appropriate  a  quantity  of 
land  to  assist  in  opening  a  canal  at  the  Falls.  I  fear 
the  shortness  of  the  session  will  prevent  the  success 
of  this  measure. ' ? 

In  the  brief  period  in  which  Clay  served  in  the 
Senate  to  fill  out  Adair's  unexpired  term,  from 
December  29,  1806,  to  March  4,  1807,  he  was  a  most 
attractive  figure,  spoken  of  by  a  fellow  member  as 
"  the  ardent,  eloquent  and  chivalrous  Henry  Clay." 
His  thorough  self-possession  was  combined  with  the 
utmost  grace  and  dignity,  and  his  ease  of  manner 
and  sunny  nature  won  for  him  the  enduring  affec 
tion  of  his  colleagues. 

Upon  the  adjournment  of  Congress  Mr.  Clay  re 
turned  to  Kentucky,  soon  again  to  be  elected  to 
represent  Fayette  County  in  the  lower  house  of  the 
legislature.  At  the  opening  of  the  session  he  was 
chosen  Speaker.  In  this  service  he  became  the  wit 
ness  of  a  singular  manifestation  of  the  patriotism  of 
the  Kentuckians.  This  patriotism  was  shown  by 
the  hatred  of  everything  British,  and  induced  a 
motion  to  prohibit  the  reading  in  the  courts  of  the 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          47 

state  of  any  British  decision,  or  any  British  ele 
mentary  work  on  law.  Henry  Clay  left  the  Speaker's 
chair  and  in  one  of  the  greatest  intellectual  efforts  of 
his  life,  he  showed  the  fatal  consequences  which 
would  certainly  follow  should  this  motion  prevail. 
The  feeling  of  resentment  toward  England  was  still 
very  strong.  Among  the  multitude  that  feeling  was 
almost  universal  and  many  members  favored  the 
motion.  In  the  spirit  of  compromise,  Mr.  Clay 
proposed  an  amendment,  that  the  exclusion  of 
British  decisions  and  legal  opinions  should  extend 
only  to  those  which  had  been  given  since  July  4, 
1776,  as  up  to  that  time  the  laws  of  Great  Britain 
and  of  the  American  Colonies  were  derived  from 
the  same  great  source.  He  denounced  as  barbarous 
the  spirit  which  would  "  wantonly  make  wreck  of  a 
system  fraught  with  the  intellectual  wealth  of  cen 
turies."  His  impassioned  appeal  overcame  all  op 
position  and  the  amended  resolution  was  adopted 
unanimously.  Thus  at  the  early  age  of  thirty  Henry 
Clay  saved  for  Kentucky,  "  that  system  with  which 
is  associated  everything  valuable  and  venerable  in 
jurisprudence." 

His  patriotism  was  shown  later  on  also,  when  he 
brought  into  the  legislature  a  series  of  resolutions 
expressing  approval  of  the  embargo  which  had  been 
established  by  the  United  States  against  Great  Brit 
ain,  and  denouncing  the  British  Orders  in  Council. 
The  embargo,  approved  at  an  extra  session  of  Con 
gress  called  by  Jefferson,  in  the  latter  part  of  1807, 
prohibited  the  departure  of  any  American  vessel 
from  any  port  of  the  United  States  and  bound  to 
any  foreign  country,  except  by  special  direction  of 


48  HEKKY   CLAY 

the  President.  This  measure  had  been  preceded  by 
a  non-importation  act  passed  in  1806,  which  pro 
hibited  the  introduction  into  the  United  States  oi' 
certain  articles  of  British  production. 

Both  of  these,  however,  were  but  weak,  retalia 
tory  measures  induced  by  the  loss  which  had  been 
occasioned  to  the  United  States  by  the  destruction 
of  vessels  of  her  merchant-marine  by  Great  Britain, 
and  by  Great  Britain's  insistence  upon  the  right  of 
search  of  American  vessels  for  British  seanieu,  and 
the  impressment  into  her  service  of  such  seamen  as 
that  nation  determined,  upon  her  own  judgment, 
owed  allegiance  to  her  government.  Provably 
British  men-of-war  took  from  American  vessels  on 
the  high  seas,  and  even  in  American  waters,  a  large 
number  of  seamen  who  both  by  birth  and  residence 
were  citizens  of  this  country. 

The  British  Orders  in  Council,  concerning  which 
so  little  is  known  by  the  ordinary  reader  of  that 
period  of  American  history,  consisted  of  three 
measures,  the  first  of  which  was  taken  by  the  Brit 
ish  government,  May  16,  1806,  and  which  declared 
the  whole  coast  of  Europe  from  the  Elbe  to  Brest,  a 
distance  of  800  miles,  in  a  state  of  blockade.  The 
second  Order  in  Council  was  issued  in  January, 
1807,  and  forbade  neutrals  from  engaging  in  the 
coasting  trade  with  ports  hostile  to  Great  Britain. 
The  third  prohibited  all  neutral  trade  with  France 
or  her  allies,  except  through  Great  Britain.  These 
famous  Orders  in  Council  were  replied  to  by  two 
orders  issued  by  JS"apoleon,  the  first  from  Berlin,  on 
November  21,  1806,  declaring  the  British  Islands  in 
a  state  of  blockade,  forbidding  all  correspondence 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          49 

or  trade  with  them,  and  defining  as  contraband  all 
English  products  or  manufactures  ;  the  second  from 
Milan  on  December  17,  1807,  decreeing  that  every 
vessel  which  should  submit  to  search  by  British 
cruisers,  or  pay  any  tax  or  license  to  the  British 
government,  or  be  bound  to  or  from  any  British 
port  should  be  denationalized  and  sequestered. 1 

In  December,  1808,  Henry  Clay  introduced  a 
series  of  resolutions  in  the  Kentucky  legislature, 
and  the  vote  upon  those  measures  indicated  the 
unanimity  of  feeling  in  Kentucky  as  to  British  ag 
gressions.  These  resolutions  approved  of  the  em 
bargo,  denounced  the  British  Orders  in  Council, 
pledged  the  aid  of  Kentucky  in  whatever  the  gen 
eral  government  might  determine  upon  in  resisting 
British  exactions,  and  declared  that  President  Jef 
ferson  was  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the  country 
for  the  "  ability,  uprightness,  and  intelligence 
which  he  had  displayed  in  the  management  both  of 
our  foreign  relations  and  domestic  concerns." 

This  endorsement  of  Jefferson  was  especially  ob 
jected  to  by  Humphrey  Marshall,  who  was  then 
serving  in  the  legislature.  He  was  an  extreme 
Federalist,  a  man  of  strong  prejudices,  who  despised 
Jefferson  as  he  did  Clay.  He  violently  denounced 
the  resolutions,  but  without  effect,  as  his  own  was 
the  only  vote  against  their  adoption. 

Another  resolution  then  offered  by  Clay,  recom 
mending  that  the  members  of  the  legislature  should 
wear  only  such  clothes  as  were  the  product  of  home 
manufacture,  enraged  Marshall  beyond  endurance. 
He  assailed  Clay  with  the  utmost  virulence,  denoun- 

1  Hunt,  Life  of  James  Madison. 


50  HENRY  CLAY 

cing  the  resolution  as  the  claptrap  of  a  dema 
gogue,  to  which  Clay  replied  with  equal  warmth, 
but  in  more  parliamentary  language.  This  alterca 
tion  caused  Clay  to  send  Marshall  a  challenge  to 
mortal  combat,  which  was  accepted  and  the  duel 
took  place  across  the  Ohio  River  from  Shippings- 
port,  and  just  below  the  mouth  of  Silver  Creek, 
Ind.  The  account  of  this  duel,  written  and  sub 
scribed  to  by  the  seconds,  who  were  Colonel  James 
F.  Moore  for  Henry  Clay,  and  Major  John  B. 
Campbell  for  Humphrey  Marshall,  was  published 
in  the  Kentucky  Gazette  of  January  31,  1809.  Both 
combatants  were  slightly  wounded  when  the  sec 
onds  interfered  and  prevented  a  continuation  of  hos 
tilities. 

Mrs.  Clay  was  then  at  home  at  "Ashland,"  the 
beginnings  of  which  estate  Henry  Clay  had  pur 
chased  iu  November,  1806,  and  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Price,  who  resided  in  Lexington,  having  heard  that 
Mr.  Clay  had  gone  out  to  fight  a  duel,  went  to  be 
with  her  until  news  of  the  result  should  be  ob 
tained.  Mrs.  Clay  received  her  sister  without  ex 
hibiting  any  excitement,  and  the  two  ladies  spent 
the  day  together,  no  word  of  the  encounter  passing 
between  them.  Mrs.  Price  imagined  that  Mrs. 
Clay  knew  nothing  of  the  meeting  and,  therefore, 
did  not  speak  to  her  about  it.  In  the  afternoon  a 
messenger  brought  a  note  to  Mrs.  Clay  which  she 
read  and  at  once  handed  to  Mrs.  Price,  saying, 
"  Thank  God,  he  is  only  slightly  wounded.''  On 
reading  the  note  Mrs.  Price  exclaimed,  "  Why  ! 
sister,  I  did  not  think  you  knew  Mr.  Clay  had  gone 
out  to  fight  a  duel,  as  you  haven't  said  one  word  to 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          51 

me  about  it."  Such  was  the  self-control  of  that 
quiet,  houie-loving  woman. 

In  after  years  a  son  of  Humphrey  Marshall, 
Thomas  A.  Marshall,  was  a  representative  in  the 
Federal  House  of  Representatives,  still  later  becom 
ing  Chief- Justice  of  Kentucky.  He  was  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  in  the  state  and  his  nature  and  char 
acter  were  such  as  to  create  and  justify  the  high 
consideration  accorded  him.  He  married  a  niece  of 
Mrs.  Clay,  and  was  one  of  the  two  men  chosen  by 
Henry  Clay  as  executors  of  his  last  will. 

In  the  winter  of  1809-1810  Clay  was  again  sent  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  to  fill  another  uuex- 
pired  term,  that  of  Buckner  Thruston,  who  had  re 
signed  his  place  while  he  yet  had  two  years  to  serve. 
The  first  recorded  speech  of  Clay's  congressional 
career  was  made  on  April  6,  1810,  on  domestic 
manufactures,  which  he  favored  then  as  he  had  in 
the  legislature  of  Kentucky  two  years  before,  de 
veloping  his  argument,  however,  in  a  much  more 
elaborate  way.1 

The  subject  of  a  protective  tariff  of  which  he  later 
became  the  particular  advocate  and  with  which  his 
name,  as  with  the  internal  improvement  policy,  is 
so  closely  identified,  was  not  directly  at  issue.  An 
amendment  had  been  made  to  a  bill  appropriating 
money  for  the  purchase  of  military  supplies  and  it 
was  a  question  of  instructing  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  to  give  a  preference  to  hemp,  cordage  and 
sail-cloth  of  domestic  manufacture.  Clay  entered 

1  Neither  the  Annals  of  Congress  nor  the  newspapers  of  the 
time  report  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Clay  which  he  made  in  the  Sen 
ate  while  he  was  a  member  of  that  body  in  1806-1807. 


52  ;  gENKY  CLAY 

the  discussion  as  ah  advocate  of  the  industries  of 
Kentucky.  He  thought  that  there  would  soon  come 
a  time  when  we  should  not  want  "a  pound  of 
Russian  hemp."  u  The  Western  country  alone," 
he  said,  '  *  is  not  only  adequate  to  the  supply  of 
whatever  of  this  article  is  requisite  for  our  own 
consumption,  but  is  capable  of  affording  a  surplus 
for  foreign  markets."  Commerce  was  opposing  the 
policy  of  domestic  manufactures.  "She  is,"  he 
remarked,  "  a  flirting,  flippant,  noisy  jade,  and  if 
we  are  governed  by  her  fantasies  we  shall  never 
put  off  the  muslins  of  India  and  the  cloths  of 
Europe."  He  had  confidence,  however,  that  utlie 
yeomanry  of  the  country,  the  true  and  genuine 
landlords  of  this  tenement  called  the  United  States, 
disregarding  her  freaks,  will  persevere  in  reform 
until  the  whole  national  family  is  furnished  by 
itself  with  the  clothing  necessary  tor  its  own  use." 

Earlier  "  a  gentleman's  head  could  not  withstand 
the  influence  of  solar  heat  unless  covered  with  a 
London  hat ;  his  feet  could  not  bear  the  pebbles  or 
frost  unless  protected  by  London  shoes ;  and  the 
comfort  or  ornament  of  his  person  was  only  con 
sulted  when  his  coat  was  cut  out  by  the  shears  of  a 
tailor  'just  from  London.'  "  There  were  pleasure 
and  pride  he  thought  "  in  being  clad  in  the  pro 
ductions  of  our  own  families"  and  with  youthful 
ardor  he  exclaimed :  l  i  Others  may  prefer  the 
cloths  of  Leeds  and  of  London,  but  give  me  those 
of  Humphreysville."  l 

He  rapidly  made  his  way  as  a  speaker  in  the 

Colonel  David  Humphreys'  thriving  industrial  settlement  in 
Connecticut. 


ENTEAXCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          53 

Senate,  and  his  manner,  as  well  as  the  subject  of  his 
discourses,  compelled  the  attention  of  his  colleagues. 
He  was  even  afforded  an  opportunity  to  develop  a 
foreign  policy  in  connection  with  President  Madi 
son's  proclamation  of  October  27,  1810,  on  the  sub 
ject  of  Florida. 

The  disputed  question  of  boundary  seemed  now 
to  call  for  some  definite  settlement.  Insurrection 
and  intrigue  suggested  immediate  action  and  it 
was  boldly  begun.  Though  discovered  by  Sebas 
tian  Cabot,  Florida  was  formally  taken  possession 
of  by  Ponce  de  Leon.  It  was  ceded  to  England  in 
1763,  by  the  Treaty  of  Eyswick,  but  in  1783  was  re 
stored  to  Spain  by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  to  remain  in 
possession  of  that  nation  until  it  was  purchased  by 
the  United  States  for  $5,000,000  in  1819.  The 
Mississippi  Eiver  was  discovered  by  the  French  in 
1688,  and  eleven  years  afterward  a  settlement  was 
made  by  them  near  the  point  of  discovery.  Pos 
session  was  ceded  to  Spain  in  1763  but  it  was  restored 
to  France  in  1800,  and  the  country  was  purchased 
by  Jefferson  from  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  1803  by 
the  payment  of  $15,000,000. 

The  question  involved  in  Madison's  proclamation 
was  the  boundary  line  between  Florida,  then  in  pos 
session  of  Spain,  and  the  Louisiana  Territory,  that 
magnificent  domain  purchased  from  Bonaparte. 
Madison  himself  had  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  the 
boundary  fixed  by  the  purchase  being  the  line  of  the 
Rio  Perdido,  though  Spain  asserted  that  Florida  ex 
tended  west  to  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  The  Spanish 
demand,  if  acceded  to  by  the  United  States,  would 
have  given  Spain  the  states  of  Alabama  and  Mis- 


64  HENRY  CLAY 

sissippi.  The  President  and  his  friends,  quoting 
from  the  treaties  between  France  and  Spain,  called 
attention  to  the  cessions  and  retrocessions  of  the  one 
country  to  the  other,  as  well  as  to  the  cession  of  the 
eastern  portion,  exclusive  of  New  Orleans,  to  Great 
Britain  in  1762,  and  the  cession  of  this  territory  by 
Great  Britain  to  Spain  twenty-one  years  later.  This 
caused  the  title  of  all  the  Louisiana  country,  as  far 
east  as  the  Kio  Perdido,  to  revert  to  France  and  to  be 
in  France's  possession  when  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
was  made  by  Jefferson  in  1803. 

It  is  true  that  the  United  States  had  failed  to  oc 
cupy  that  portion  between  the  Eio  Perdido  and  New 
Orleans,  commonly  called  West  Florida,  and  to 
which  Spain  made  claim,  largely,  if  not  wholly,  be 
cause  the  Spanish  garrisons  had  not  been  ejected  by 
the  United  States.  In  his  proclamation  of  October  27, 
1810,  President  Madison  asserted  the  claim  of  the 
United  States  to  West  Florida,  and  also  stated  that 
the  reason  of  the  delay  in  its  occupation  was  not  the 
result  of  any  distrust  on  the  part  of  this  nation  as  to 
its  title  to  the  country,  but  simply  because  of  our 
conciliatory  views.  He  announced,  therefore,  that 
possession  should  be  taken  of  that  territory  l '  in  the 
name  and  behalf  of  the  United  States." 

A  bill  was  then  introduced  in  the  Senate  on 
December  18,  1810,  providing  that  the  territory  of 
Orleans,  one  of  the  two  territories  into  which  the 
Louisiana  tract  had  been  divided,  "  shall  be  claimed 
and  is  hereby  declared  to  extend  to  the  river 
Perdido,"  and  that  the  laws  in  force  in  the  territory 
of  Orleans  shall  extend  over  the  district  in  question. 
The  Federalists  of  the  Senate  took  issue  with  this 


ENTKANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LIFE          65 

view.  Timothy  Pickering  of  Massachusetts,  and 
Outer  bridge  Horsey  of  Delaware,  denied  that  the 
United  States  had  any  title  to  West  Florida,  and  be 
came  the  advocates  of  Spain  in  this  cause,  denouncing 
the  proceeding  of  President  rMadison  as  an  act  of 
spoliation  upon  an  unoffending  and  a  helpless  power. 

Henry  Clay  came  forward,  championing  the  ad 
ministration  in  a  speech  replete  with  knowledge 
gained  by  careful  study  of  the  whole  question,  and 
with  great  irony  congratulated  Mr.  Horsey  on 
espousing  the  part  of  the  foreign  nation  in  the 
question  of  territorial  title  between  that  nation  and 
his  own.  So  comprehensively,  yet  concisely,  did 
he  expound  the  position  of  the  United  States ;  so 
accurately  did  he  define  the  cessions  and  retroces 
sions  of  France,  England  and  Spain  concerning 
Florida  and  Louisiana,  that  nothing  else  seemed  to 
be  needed.  By  a  citation  of  the  different  actions  of 
the  three  nations,  he  clearly  demonstrated  France's 
title  to  all  the  territory  ceded  by  Napoleon  to  the 
United  States  on  the  payment  of  $15,000,000. 

Horsey,  during  his  speech  favoring  the  preten 
sions  of  Spain  to  the  territory  of  West  Florida,  had 
brought  forward,  as  an  additional  reason  for  grant 
ing  those  claims,  the  displeasure  that  the  proceed 
ings  taken  by  the  President  might  create  in  Great 
Britain,  which  was  presumed  to  bean  ally  of  Spain. 
This  allusion  to  the  possible  offense  that  might  be 
given  Great  Britain  by  the  United  States  in  further 
ing  her  right  to  the  territory  she  had  purchased 
from  France,  had  not  the  persuasive  influence  with 
the  young  Eepublicans  of  the  Senate  that  Mr. 
Horsey  and  a  majority  of  the  Federalists  of  the 


66  HEXKY  CLAY 

Senate  seemed  to  think  it  should  have.  On  the 
contrary,  it  merely  led  their  indignation,  and  Clay, 
the  youngest  member  of  the  Senate,  but  the  leader 
of  the  party  in  that  body,  replied  to  Mr.  Horsey  in 
a  speech  full  of  withering  scorn.  He  said  : 

u  Is  the  time  never  to  arrive  when  we  may  man 
age  our  own  affairs  without  the  fear  of  insulting  his 
Britannic  majesty  ?  Is  the  rod  of  the  British  power 
to  be  forever  suspended  over  our  heads'?  Does  Con 
gress  put  an  embargo  to  shelter  our  rightful  com 
merce  against  the  piratical  depredations  committed 
upon  it  on  the  ocean  ?  We  are  immediately  warned 
of  the  indignation  of  offending  England.  Is  a  law 
of  non-intercourse  proposed?  The  whole  navy  of 
the  haughty  mistress  of  the  seas  is  made  to  thunder 
into  our  ears.  Does  the  President  refuse  to  continue 
a  correspondence  with  a  minister  who  violates  the 
decorum  belonging  to  his  diplomatic  character  by 
giving  and  repeating  a  deliberate  affront  to  the 
whole  nation  ?  We  are  instantly  menaced  with  the 
chastisement  which  English  pride  will  not  fail  to 
inflict.  Whether  we  assert  our  rights  by  sea,  or 
attempt  their  maintenance  by  land,  whithersoever  we 
turn  ourselves,  this  phantom  incessantly  pursues  us. 
Already  has  it  had  too  much  influence  on  the  coun 
cils  of  the  nation.  Mr.  President,  I  most  sincerely 
desire  peace  and  amity  with  England  ;  I  even  prefer 
an  adjustment  of  all  differences  with  her  before  one 
with  any  other  nation.  But  if  she  persists  in  a  de 
nial  of  j  ustice  to  us,  or  if  she  avails  herself  of  the 
occupation  of  West  Florida  to  commence  war  upon 
us,  I  hope  and  trust  that  all  hearts  will  unite  in  a 
bold  and  vigorous  vindication  of  our  rights.7' 


ENTRANCE  INTO  PUBLIC  LITE          57 

With  the  greatest  irony  he  continued  : 

"Allow  me,  sir,  to  express  my  admiration  at  the 
more  than  Aristidean  justice  which,  in  a  question 
of  territorial  title  between  the  United  States  and  a 
foreign  nation,  induces  certain  gentlemen  to  espouse 
the  pretensions  of  the  foreign  nation. " 

The  conciseness  of  Clay's  statement  of  historical 
facts  as  to  the  condition  which  prompted  Madison's 
proclamation,  and  the  bill,  the  result  of  that  proc 
lamation,  which  was  then  under  debate,  so  forcibly 
impressed  the  Senate  that  the  endorsement  of  the 
President's  action  was  no  longer  in  doubt.  His 
speech,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  it  was  re 
ceived  by  the  country,  confirmed  Clay's  leadership 
of  the  Republicans  in  Congress  and  made  him  the 
recognized  champion  of  the  administration. 

The  Bank  of  the  United  States,  which  was  a  part 
of  Alexander  Hamilton's  scheme  of  national  finance, 
had  been  granted  a  charter  by  Congress  in  1791,  for 
a  term  of  twenty  years,  which  would  expire  in  1811. 
Henry  Clay  opposed  the  renewal  of  its  grant  of 
powers.  He  had  been  so  instructed  by  the  legisla 
ture  of  Kentucky,  and  he  contended  that  seven- 
tenths  of  the  stock  was  held  by  British  subjects. 
Foreseeing  the  crisis  with  England,  now  so  rapidly 
approaching,  he  thought  that  fact  would  give  her 
an  influence  in  this  country  which  she  might  exer 
cise  to  our  great  disadvantage.  Another  reason  for 
his  opposing  the  renewal  of  the  charter  was  a  belief 
that  the  bank  under  its  first  charter  had  abused  its 
powers  and  had  endeavored  to  serve  the  views  of  the 
Federalists.  It  was  asserted  that  instances  of  its 
oppression  for  that  purpose  had  occurred  at  both 


58  HENKY  CLAY 

Philadelphia  and  Charleston,  and  while  this 
denied  by  the  friends  of  the  bank,  in  his  judgment, 
the  charge  had  been  satisfactorily  established.  He 
seems  to  have  thought  also  that  the  charter  of  the 
bank  was  to  some  extent  extra-constitutional  ; 
that  is,  that  certain  powers  exercised  by  the  bank 
were  not  specifically  granted  to  it,  but  were  wrongly 
inferred  from  the  charter.  The  plan  for  its  renewal 
was  defeated  in  the  Senate  by  the  casting  of  the  vote 
of  the  Vice- President,  and  in  the  House  by  a  ma 
jority  of  only  one  vote. 

Henry  Clay's  arguments  against  the  bank  were 
very  powerful,  and  it  may  be  said  that  the  instruc 
tions  he  received  from  the  legislature  of  Kentucky 
to  oppose  its  recharter  were  but  lightly  regarded  as 
compared  with  his  own  convictions,  though  hi* 
course  placed  him  in  an  unfortunate  position  when 
a  few  years  later,  as  the  great  Whig  leader,  a  na 
tional  bank  became  one  of  his  leading  policies.  Per 
haps  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  and  his  intense  loyalty 
to  America,  then  distinguishing  all  his  utterances 
and  sweeping  him  and  his  party  on  into  the  War  of 
lcS12,  will  alone  serve  to  explain  his  attitude  toward 
the  bank.  He  asserted  that  the  Duke  of  Northum 
berland  was  its  principal  stockholder.  If  the  Prince 
of  Essliug,  the  Duke  of  Cadore  and  other  French 
dignitaries  were  owners  of  the  bank,  he  wondered 
whether  the  Federalists  would  be  the  advocates  of 
its  recharter.  Then  the  danger  of  French  influence 
would  resound  throughout  the  nation.  The  peril  of 
British  influence  was  just  as  great  at  this  hour, — 
when  the  two  nations  were  already  on  the  a  very 
brink  of  war." 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   WAR   OF   1812 

AT  the  expiration  of  the  senatorial  term  for  which 
he  had  been  chosen  on  the  resignation  of  Buckner 
Thruston,  Mr.  Clay  returned  to  Kentucky.  So 
clearly  had  he  exhibited  his  ability  and  his  influence 
in  the  Senate,  and  so  greatly  had  he  impressed  his 
constituency  with  his  intellectual  superiority,  that 
upon  his  refusal  to  accept  the  nomination  for  the 
Senate,  he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  by  a  large  majority.  A  special  session  of  Con 
gress  had  been  called  to  meet  on  November  4,  1811, 
and  Henry  Clay  then  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of 
the  House.  On  the  same  day  he  was  elected  Speaker 
by  seventy-five  of  the  128  votes  cast.  His  opponent 
was  William  W.  Bibb  of  Georgia. 

Clay's  election  was  an  unparalleled  occurrence  in 
the  history  of  the  American  Congress.  Never  hav 
ing  been  a  member  of  the  House  before,  his  personal 
acquaintance  with  its  members  must  have  been  very 
limited,  yet  they  at  once  recognized  his  superior 
fitness  for  the  position,  when  the  country's  condition 
was  critical  to  a  high  degree.  The  constant  en 
deavors  made  by  Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison 
to  secure  just  treatment  for  the  United  States  from 
both  France  and  England  had  invariably  failed. 
Neither  nation  would  make  any  equitable  arrange 
ment  through  which  the  various  actions  of  each,  so 


60  HENEY  CLAY 

destructive  to  this  country's  commerce,  would  be 
terminated.  On  the  part  of  England,  her  course  ii 
the  impressment  of  seamen  from  American  ships 
even  in  American  waters,  claiming  as  she  frequent!} 
did  the  allegiance  of  native-born  citizens,  seizing 
them  upon  American  ships  and  putting  them  ti 
service  upon  her  own,  and  constituting  herself  tht 
sole  judge  of  their  nationality,  as  well  as  positively 
asserting  a  right  so  to  do,  was  regarded  by  the  peo 
pie  of  this  country  as  the  least  tolerable  of  the  wrougc 
she  perpetrated  upon  them.  So  thought  Henr} 
Clay,  and  with  him  were  John  C.  Calhouu,  William 
Lowudes,  Langdon  Cheves,  Felix  Grundy  and  other 
young  "  war  hawks,"  all  of  whom,  with  burning 
enthusiasm,  resented  British  aggressions,  and  de 
termined  no  longer  to  submit  to  them.  President 
Madison's  message,  sent  in  to  Congress  on  its  assem 
bling,  November  4,  1811,  recommended  "  very  de 
cisive  measures  for  the  vindication  of  our  national 
honor  and  the  redress  of  our  wrongs."  There  were 
members  of  Congress,  remainders  of  the  old  Feder 
alist  party,  representing  those  elements,  the  most 
irreconcilable  of  which  gave  expression  to  their 
views  in  the  Hartford  Convention  where  they  opposed 
in  toto  the  measures  advocated  by  the  President. 

Clay  now  spoke  in  vigorous  language  in  favor  of 
plans  to  strengthen  the  army  and  the  navy.  He 
dwelt  upon  the  spirit  of  American  commercial  en 
terprise  which  was  being  curbed  by  the  interferences 
of  Great  Britain.  It  was  a  matter  of  importance  for 
the  West,  no  less  than  for  the  East.  He  had  heard 
of  a  vessel  built  at  Pi  ttsburg,  which  crossed  the  At 
lantic  and  entered  the  harbor  of  Leghorn.  The 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  61 

master  of  the  vessel  laid  his  papers  before  the  cus 
toms  officer  of  the  place,  to  be  told  that  there  was 
no  such  port  as  Pittsburg.  The  master  procured  a 
map  of  the  United  States,  pointed  out  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  then  traced  his  way  up  the  Mississippi 
more  than  1,000  miles,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio, 
following  the  line  of  that  river  1,000  miles  still 
higher  to  the  point  from  which  he  had  begun  his 
voyage.  Thus  did  he  voice  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
young  West  and  inject  the  fillip  of  a  larger,  prouder 
nationality  into  the  sluggish  views  of  the  older 
states. 

Henry  Clay  was  no  defender  of  Napoleon,  but  he 
did  protest  against  the  statesmanship  of  the  old  Fed 
eralists  which  now  and  for  long  had  spent  its  vigor 
in  baiting  him  and  all  that  was  French.  He  had 
heard  Bonaparte  denounced  by  ''every  vile  and  op 
probrious  epithet  our  language,  copious  as  it  is  in 
terms  of  vituperation,  affords. "  He  had  been  com 
pared  to  ' *  every  hideous  monster  and  beast  from 
that  mentioned  in  the  Eevelations  down  to  the  most 
insignificant  quadruped."  He  had  been  called  "the 
scourger  of  mankind,  the  destroyer  of  Europe,  the 
great  robber,  the  infidel,  the  modern  Attila  and 
Heaven  knows  by  what  other  names."  And  he  con 
tinued  :  "Gentlemen  appear  to  me  to  forget  that 
they  stand  on  American  soil,  that  they  are  not  in 
the  British  House  of  Commons.  .  .  .  Gentle 
men  transform  themselves  into  Burkes,  Chathams 
and  Pitts  of  another  country  and  forgetting,  from 
honest  zeal,  the  interests  of  America,  engage  with 
European  sensibility  in  the  discussion  of  European 
interests."  In  stentorian  tones  he  called  upon 


62  HENKY  CLAY 

Americans  to  develop  and  assert  a  nationality  of 
their  own. 

The  President's  message  had  been  referred  to  a 
select  committee  of  which  Mr.  Clay  had  appointed 
Peter  B.  Porter,  a  member  from  New  York,  to  be  the 
chairman.  Porter  made  a  report  to  the  House, 
memorable  as  giving  a  concise  statement  of  the  ac 
tions  of  Great  Britain,  which  were  a  sufficient  reason 
for  the  adoption  of  the  most  strenuous  measures  that 
could  be  enforced  against  that  nation.  In  reference 
to  these  continued  outrages  the  report  said  : 

uTo  wrongs  so  daring  in  character,  and  so  dis 
graceful  in  execution,  it  is  impossible  that  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  should  remain  indifferent. 
We  must  now  tamely  and  quietly  submit,  or  we 
must  resist  by  those  means  which  God  has  placed 
within  our  reach.  Your  committee  would  not  cast 
a  slander  over  the  American  name  by  the  expression 
of  a  doubt  which  branch  of  this  alternative  will  be 
embraced.  The  occasion  is  now  presented  when  the 
national  character,  misrepresented  and  traduced  for 
a  time,  by  foreign  and  domestic  enemies,  should  be 
vindicated.  .  .  .  But  we  have  borne  with  injury 
until  forbearance  has  ceased  to  be  a  virtue.  The 
sovereignty  and  independence  of  these  states,  pur 
chased  and  sanctified  by  the  blood  of  our  fathers, 
from  whom  we  received  them,  not  for  ourselves  only, 
but  as  the  inheritance  of  our  posterity,  are  deliber 
ately  and  systematically  violated.  And  the  period 
has  arrived  when,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee, 
it  is  the  sacred  duty  of  Congress  to  call  forth  the  pa 
triotism  and  resources  of  the  country.  By  the  aid 
of  these  and  with  the  blessing  of  God  we  confidently 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  63 

trust  we  shall  be  enabled  to  procure  that  redress 
which  has  beeu  sought  for  by  justice,  by  remon 
strance,  and  forbearance  in  vain." 

Shortly  after  the  report  of  the  committee  was  re 
ceived,  President  Madison  in  a  message  to  Congress 
on  April  1,  1812,  recommended  uthe  immediate 
passage  of  an  embargo  on  all  vessels  then  in  port,  or 
hereafter  arriving,  for  a  period  of  sixty  days." 
This  was  at  once  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations,  and  a  bill,  reported  by  Mr. 
Porter  and  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole, 
was  adopted.  In  the  Senate,  however,  the  period  of 
the  embargo  was  extended  to  ninety  days  and  the 
amendment  being  accepted  by  the  House,  the  bill 
became  a  law  on  April  4th.  This  extension  of  time 
was  due  to  the  Federalists  and  to  some  moderate 
Republicans,  who  favored  it  because  it  gave  greater 
opportunity  for  the  pacific  negotiation  for  which 
they  still  hoped,  in  spite  of  the  constant  rebuffs  and 
contemptuous  refusals  with  which  England  met 
every  effort  made  by  Jefferson  and  Madison,  to  ob 
tain  justice  at  her  hands. 

In  forming  the  important  committees  of  the  House, 
Clay  had  purposely  put  them  under  the  control  of 
the  war  party,  of  which  he  himself  was  the  most 
conspicuous  member.  His  energy  in  urging  even  a 
larger  army  and  a  greater  increase  of  the  navy  than 
the  President  had  recommended  to  meet  the  crisis, 
"  corresponding  with  the  national  spirit  and  ex 
pectations,"  was  irresistible  ;  and  when  taunted  by 
the  Federalists  with  the  question,  ' '  What  are  we  to 
gain  by  war  I ' '  his  reply,  made  with  startling 
emphasis,  was,  * i  What  are  we  not  to  lose  by  peace  ! 


64  HENEY  CLAY 

Commerce,  character,  a  nation's  best  treasure, 
honor ! " 

President  Madison  was  nominated  for  reelection 
in  May,  1812.  The  act  declaring  war  with  Great 
Britain  was  passed  June  18th,  and  the  next  day 
Madison  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  that  war 
already  existed  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  This  policy  naturally  met  with 
violent  opposition  from  the  same  small  number 
who  had  fought  the  embargo,  Eandolph,  Quincy 
and  Pitkin  being  the  leaders  and  spokesmen  of  the 
faction.  In  his  denunciation  of  the  members  of  the 
war  party,  and  their  vigorous  prosecution  of  war 
measures,  Mr.  Quincy,  in  a  memorable  speech,  sur 
passed  even  "Eandolph  of  Eoanoke"  in  unparlia 
mentary  language.  He  coupled  with  his  fierce  and 
unsparing  denunciation  an  attack  upon  Jefferson, 
which  was  as  uncalled  for  as  it  was  unwarranted. 

Henry  Clay  displayed  his  indefatigable  zeal  in 
arousing  public  sentiment.  His  eloquence  in 
enumerating  the  wrongs  that  had  been  perpetrated 
by  Great  Britain  upon  our  seamen,  and  upon  our 
shipping  through  the  Orders  in  Council  burned. 
Nothing  was  left  to  this  country,  he  asserted,  but 
war  or  degradation.  The  war,  he  said,  was  declared 
because  Great  Britain  arrogated  to  herself  the  regu 
lating  of  our  foreign  commerce  under  the  delusive 
name  of  retaliatory  Orders  in  Council,  because  she 
persisted  in  impressing  American  seamen,  because 
she  had  instigated  the  Indians  to  commit  hostilities 
against  us,  and  because  she  refused  indemnity  for 
her  past  injuries  upon  our  commerce.  It  had  been 
asked— "  Why  not  declare  war  against  France,  also, 


THE  WAE  OF  1812  65 

for  the  injuries  she  inflicted  upon  American  com 
merce,  and  the  outrageous  duplicity  of  her  conduct?  " 
1  i  I  will  concede  to  gentlemen  all  they  ask  about  the 
injustice  of  France  toward  this  country/'  he  said. 
' '  I  wish  to  God  that  our  ability  was  equal  to  our 
disposition  to  make  her  feel  the  sense  that  we  enter 
tain  of  that  injustice."  Having  begun  war  with 
Great  Britain,  however,  the  United  States  could  not 
also  proceed  to  war  with  France,  and  England's  ag 
gressions  were  in  every  respect  greater  than  those  of 
the  other  country. 

Henry  Clay  declared  that,  of  all  England's  out 
rageous  acts,  he  considered  that  of  the  impressment 
of  our  seamen  into  British  service  as  the  most 
serious,  exceeding  even  that  of  the  Orders  in  Coun 
cil.  No  matter  what  were  the  assertions  of  Great 
Britain,  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  in  regard  to  her 
impressing  American  seamen,  was  that  she  came  by 
her  press-gangs  on  board  of  our  vessels  and  seized 
our  native  as  well  as  our  naturalized  seamen,  to 
drag  them  into  her  service.  It  was  wrong,  he  said, 
that  we  should  have  to  prove  their  nationality  ;  it 
was  the  business  of  Great  Britain  to  identify  her 
subjects.  "  The  colors  that  float  from  the  masthead 
should  be  the  credentials  of  our  seamen." 

Madison's  reelection  was  ascertained  by  Congress 
on  February  18th,  on  counting  the  vote  cast  for  him  as 
the  candidate  of  the  Eepublican  party,  and  that  cast 
for  De  Witt  Clinton,  his  opponent.  On  May  24th 
Henry  Clay  was  again  elected  Speaker  of  the  House, 
the  candidate  in  opposition  being  Mr.  Pitkin  of 
Connecticut,  who  together  with  Randolph  and 
Quincy  voiced  the  most  hostile  enmity  to  the 


66  HENKY  CLAY 

embargo  and  to  the  proclamation  of  war.  Quincy 
still  spoke  with  great  bitterness,  not  only  for  him 
self  but  for  his  party  and  section.  Clay  he  found 
u  bold,  aspiring,  presumptuous,  with  a  rough,  over 
bearing  eloquence,  neither  exact  nor  comprehensive, 
which  he  had  cultivated  in  the  contests  with  the 
half-civilized  wranglers  in  the  county  courts  of  Ken 
tucky,  and  quickened  into  confidence  and  readiness 
by  successful  declamations  at  barbecues  and  elec 
tioneering  struggles."  * 

The  proposal  to  invade  Canada  with  a  possible 
view  to  its  annexation,  hinted  at  by  Henry  Clay,  he 
denounced  as  u  cruel,  wanton,  senseless  and  wicked." 
The  men  about  him  reminded  him  of  "  the  giant  in 
the  legends  of  infancy, 

"  '  Fee,  faw,  funi, 

I  smell  the  blood  of  an  Englishman, 
Dead  or  alive  I  will  have  some.'  " 

He  expressed,  he  said,  "  the  disgust  of  all  New 
England."  There  was  mildness  indeed  in  the  allu 
sion  to  u  very  young  politicians,  their  pin  feathers 
not  yet  grown"  in  comparison  with  some  remarks 
of  Mr.  Quincy  as  he  further  developed  his  discourse. 
"It  is  not  for  a  man  whose  ancestors  have  been 
planted  in  this  country  now  for  almost  two  cen 
turies,"  he  said  in  passion  ;  "  it  is  not  for  a  man  who 
has  a  family,  and  friends,  and  character,  and  chil 
dren,  and  a  deep  stake  in  the  soil  .  .  .  to 
hesitate  or  swerve  a  hair's  breadth  from  his  coun 
try's  purpose  and  true  interests  because  of  the  yelp 
ings,  the  bowlings  and  snarlings  of  that  hungry 
1  Edmund  Quincy,  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  p.  255. 


THE  WAR  OP  1812  67 

pack  which  corrupt  men  keep  directly  or  indirectly 
in  pay  with  the  view  of  hunting  down  every  man 
who  dares  develop  their  purposes — a  pack  composed, 
it  is  true,  of  some  native  curs,  but  for  the  most  part 
of  hounds  and  spaniels  of  very  recent  importation, 
whose  backs  are  seared  by  the  lash,  and  whose 
necks  are  sore  with  the  collars  of  their  former 
masters." 

The  cabinet  for  some  time  had  been  composed  of 
"  three  Virginians  and  a  foreigner"  (Jefferson, 
Madison,  Monroe  and  Gallatin).  Although  it  was 
Mr.  Clay's  "  untamed,  ferocious  tongue  "  which  was 
detailed  to  reply  to  this  speech,1  the  New  Englauder, 
when  the  discussion  was  done,  still  had  a  great  ad 
vantage  over  his  opponent  in  a  reputation  for  the 
use  of  intemperate  speech.  While  he  had  tongue 
or  pen,  Mr.  Quiucy  wrote  to  his  wife,  "the  ig 
norant  part  of  the  nation  shall  not  assume  to  itself 
with  impunity  to  lord  it  over  the  intelligent,  nor  the 
vicious  over  the  virtuous."  Quincy  accused  Clay  of 
leading  a  committee  of  "  war  hawks  "  to  wait  upon 
Madison,  and  to  tell  him  that  his  endorsement  of 
their  policy  would  be  the  price  of  his  being  the 
party  candidate  in  1812. 2 

Randolph,  when  not  denouncing  the  war  and  the 
party  favoring  it,  was  also  badgering  and  taunting 
the  Speaker.  In  a  conversation  with  a  friend,  about 
this  time,  he  said  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr.  Calhoun, 
who  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  :  "  They  have  entered  the  House 

1  Quincy,  p.  296. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  259;  cf.  Hunt,  Life  of  James  Madison,  p.  316; 
Henry  Adams,  Albert  Gallaiin,  p.  456. 


68  HENKY  CLAY 

with  their  eye  on  the  presidency,  and  mark  my 
words,  sir,  we  shall  have  war  before  the  end  of  the 
session."  l  "It  was  as  easy  to  go  to  war  as  to  get  a 
wife,"  said  this  oftentimes  half-niad  but  very  able 
son  of  Virginia,  "  and  many  a  poor  blockhead  had 
he  seen  strutting  his  hour  because  he  had  after  vast 
exertion  married  a  shrew."  2  He  insisted  that  it 
was  an  "  anti-ministerial  war,"  one  not  more  agree 
able  to  the  old  Eepublicans  than  to  the  old  Federal 
ists  ;  a  thing  for  a  new  breed  of  "  flaming  patriots," 
now  clamoring  for  ascendency  at  their  country's 
cost.  Having  offered  a  resolution  that  it  was  "  in 
expedient  to  resort  to  war  with  Great  Britain,"  he 
began  at  once  to  debate  it,  whereupon  Clay  put  the 
question  to  the  House  whether  it  would  proceed  to 
the  consideration  of  the  resolution.  The  House  de 
clined  to  do  so,  and  Eandolph  then  received  the 
first  impulse  to  his  intense  dislike  of  Henry  Clay^ 
whose  treatment  of  him  in  this  instance  was  only 
such  as  would  have  been  accorded  any  other  mem 
ber.3 

For  the  first  year  of  the  war  every  possible  un 
toward  happening  to  the  American  arms  seems  to 
have  befallen  them.  On  the  29th  of  August  Gen 
eral  William  Henry  Harrison,  who  had  been  made 
a  brigadier-general  in  the  American  army,  wrote 
the  following  letter  to  Henry  Clay : 

"Cincinnati,  August  29,  1812. 
"  I  write  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  amid  a  thousand 
interruptions,  and  I  do  it  solely  for  the  purpose  of 

1  Garland,  Life  of  Randolph,  Vol.  I,  p.  306. 
8  Annals  of  Congress  for  1811-1812,  p.  713. 
'Garland,  Life  of  Randolph,  Vol.  I,  p.  299. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  69 

showing  you  that  you  are  present  to  my  recollec 
tion  under  circumstances  that  would  almost  justify 
a  suspension  of  every  private  feeling.  The  rumored 
disasters  upon  our  northwestern  frontier  are  now 
ascertained  to  be  correct.  The  important  point  of 
Mackinac  was  surrendered  without  an  effort ;  an 
army  captured  at  Detroit  after  receiving  three  shois 
from  a  distant  battery  of  the  enemy  (and  from  the 
range  of  which  it  was  easy  to  retire) ;  a  fort  (Chi 
cago)  in  the  midst  of  hostile  tribes  of  Indians, 
ordered  to  be  evacuated,  and  the  garrison  slaugh 
tered  ;  the  numerous  northwestern  tribes  of  Indians 
(with  the  exception  of  two  feeble  ones)  in  arms 
against  us,  is  the  distressing  picture  which  presents 
itself  to  view  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

"To  remedy  all  these  misfortunes,  I  have  an 
army  competent  in  numbers,  and  in  spirit  equal  to 
any  that  Greece  or  Eome  ever  boasted  of,  but  desti 
tute  of  artillery,  of  many  necessary  equipments,  and 
absolutely  ignorant  of  every  military  evolution ;  nor 
have  I  but  a  single  individual  capable  of  assisting 
me  in  training  them.  But  I  beg  you  to  believe,  my 
dear  sir,  that  this  retrospect  of  my  situation,  far  from 
producing  despondency,  produces  a  contrary  effect 
and  I  feel  confident  of  being  able  to  surmount  them 
all. 

"  The  grounds  of  this  confidence  are  a  reliance 
on  my  own  zeal  and  perseverance,  and  a  perfect 
conviction  that  no  such  materials  for  forming  an 
invincible  army  ever  existed  as  the  volunteers 
which  have  marched  from  Kentucky  on  the  present 
occasion.  .  .  ." 

On  the  next  day  General  Harrison  wrote  a  second 
letter  to  Mr.  Clay  as  follows : 

"  Cincinnati,  August  30,  1812. 
"MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  After  having  been  absent  from  home  for  so 
many  months,  you  will  no  doubt  think  it  unreason- 


70  HENBY  CLAY 

able  that  you  should  be  asked  to  take  a  considerable 
journey,  ami  that  oil  an  occasion  entirely  foreign  to 
your  ordinary  public  duties.  I  know  you,  however, 
too  well  not  to  believe  that  sacrifices  of  private  con 
venience  will  be  always  made  to  render  service  to 
your  country.  Without  further  preamble  then  1 
inform  you  that,  in  my  opinion,  your  presence  on 
the  frontier  of  this  state  would  be  productive  of 
great  advantages.  I  can  assure  you  that  your  ad 
vice  and  assistance  in  determining  the  course  of 
operations  for  the  army  (to  the  command  of  which 
I  have  been  designated  by  your  recommendation) 
will  be  highly  useful.  You  are  not  only  pledged  in 
some  manner  for  my  conduct,  but  for  the  success  of 
the  war.  For  God's  sake,  then,  come  on  to  Piqua 
as  quickly  as  possible,  and  let  us  endeavor  to  throw 
off  from  the  administration  that  weight  of  reproach 
which  the  late  disasters  will  heap  upon  them.  If 
you  come,  bring  on  McKee  with  you,  whom  you 
will  overtake  upon  the  road.  An  extract  from  this 
letter  will  be  authority  for  the  commanding  officer 
of  his  regiment  to  let  him  come." 

Since  General  Harrison  was  so  anxious  for  the 
presence  of  Henry  Clay  near  the  field  of  action,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  President  Madison  had 
at  one  time  determined  to  send  the  Speaker's 
name  to  the  Senate  for  the  office  of  major -general. 
In  the  opinion  of  Albert  Gallatiu,  there  was  no 
man  so  "prompt  and  fruitful  in  expedients  for  an 
exigency."  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Madison  was  dis 
suaded  from  his  purpose  only  by  the  statement  of 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  one  who  could  fill  his 
place  in  the  national  councils,  a  statement  which  no 
thoughtful  mind  would  have  tried  to  controvert, 
Henry  Clay  was  the  impelling  spirit  of  the  war  with 

1  Private  Correspondence  of  Henry  Clay,  pp.  20-22. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  71 

Great  Britain.  The  country  at  large,  barring  an 
element  in  New  England,  was  strongly  in  its  favor, 
knowing  that  for  years  our  government  had  made 
every  endeavor  to  effect  an  amicable  arrangement 
of  the  differences,  that  all  such  attempts  had  been 
treated  with  scorn,  and  then  contemptuously  re 
jected,  and  that  the  indignity  of  the  Orders  in 
Council,  as  well  as  the  impressment  into  foreign 
service  of  American  seamen,  was  continued  in  full 
force  against  our  country.  A  vast  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  felt,  therefore,  that  a 
settlement  by  negotiation  was  absolutely  futile. 
While  it  was  true  that  the  Orders  in  Council  had 
been  revoked  at  about  the  time  of  the  declaration  of 
war,  it  was  equally  true  that  the  revocation  of  those 
orders  was  not  made  because  of  American  protests. 
Anyhow,  there  remained  the  impressment  of  our 
seamen,  and  the  unpaid  claim  for  the  loss  of  our 
shipping,  the  latter  no  small  sum,  when  it  is  con 
sidered  that  more  than  nine  hundred  American 
ships  had  been  destroyed  by  England  during  her 
war  with  Napoleon,  while  she  most  arbitrarily  im 
posed  certain  restrictive  laws  against  neutral  pow 
ers,  and  carried  her  dictum  into  effect. 

Henry  Clay's  impassioned  appeals  to  his  country 
men,  his  logical  recital  and  clear  presentation  of  the 
facts  of  England's  transgressions  upon  American 
rights,  especially  in  the  matter  of  the  impressment 
of  American  seamen,  which  he  considered  the  most 
flagrant  of  her  self- authorized  acts  against  this  na 
tion,  had  a  wide-spread  influence.  They  exerted  a 
powerful  effect  in  Congress,  where  they  were  de 
livered,  and  thrilled  the  people  of  the  West  and 


72  HENRY  CLAY 

South,  inspiring  a  patriotic  ardor  against  which 
the  opposition  of  Quiiicy,  Kandolph  and  Pitkin 
had  but  a  local  effect,  though  it  may  be  noted  that 
the  governors  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecti 
cut  refused  to  allow  the  militia  to  leave  their 
states,  in  pursuance  of  a  requisition  made  by  the 
President  under  the  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress, 
alleging  the  requisition  to  be  unconstitutional. 
Henry  Clay  was  the  most  strenuous  advocate  of  his 
party  for  preparation  for  war  with  Great  Britain, 
and  that  war  was  the  war  of  the  young  members  of 
Congress.  They  even  found  it  necessary  to  go  to 
President  Madison  and  urge  and  persuade  him  to 
act  with  greater  promptness  ;  he  must,  said  they, 
relinquish  all  expectation  of  securing  peace  through 
negotiation. 

The  Speaker's  chair,  with  the  authority  of  that 
position  in  Congress,  was  largely  delegated  to  an 
other,  while  Clay  with  untiring  energy  was  pleading 
for  action,  and  justifying  every  move  made  toward 
that  end.  He  determined  that  the  aggressions  of 
Great  Britain  should  cease  ;  that  American  com 
merce  should  no  longer  be  restrained  by  Great 
Britain  ;  and  that  merely  the  proclamation  of  that 
country  that  certain  ports  of  France,  with  which 
power  she  was  at  war,  were  closed  against  neutral 
nations,  gave  her  the  right  to  destroy  American 
shipping  for  the  infraction  of  this  prohibition, 
which  rested  on  her  proclamation  alone,  should 
no  longer  be  tolerated  by  the  United  States.  Clay 
held  that  no  abridgment  of  the  free  trade  of  the 
United  States  with  other  nations  should  be  per 
mitted  to  be  exercised  by  Great  Britain ;  that 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  73 

this  country  should  no  longer  submit  to  the  im 
pressment  of  our  seamen  by  Great  Britain,  her 
claim  to  do  which  he  said  was  "the  assertion  of 
an  erroneous  principle,  and  of  a  practice  not  con 
formable  to  the  asserted  principle,  a  principle  which 
if  it  were  theoretically  right  must  be  forever  prac 
tically  wrong,  a  practice  which  can  obtain  counte 
nance  from  no  principle  whatever,  and  to  submit  to 
which,  on  our  part,  would  betray  the  most  abject 
degradation."  We  are  told,  said  he,  "that  Eng 
land  is  a  proud  and  lofty  nation,  which,  disdaining 
to  wait  for  danger,  meets  it  half-way.  Haughty  as 
she  is,  we  once  triumphed  over  her,  and  if  we  do 
not  listen  to  the  counsels  of  timidity  and  despair, 
we  shall  again  prevail.  In  such  a  cause,  with  the 
aid  of  Providence,  we  must  come  out  crowned  with 
success  ;  but  if  we  fail,  let  us  fail  like  men,  lash  our 
selves  to  our  gallant  tars,  and  expire  together  in  one 
common  struggle,  fighting  for  free  trade  and  sea 
men's  rights." 

Always  restively  active  in  matters  in  which  he 
was  interested,  Henry  Clay  was  particularly  so  dur 
ing  the  year  1813.  In  one  way  or  another  he  was 
furthering  the  war  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  his 
patriotic  nature,  an  enthusiasm  which  the  dis 
asters  to  American  arms  had  no  effect  in  diminish 
ing. 

Men  like  Eandolph  and  Quincy  were  left  at  home 
by  their  constituents  as  the  military  ardor  swept 
the  country  and  put  them  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
popular  cause.  They  now  had  the  time  to  write 
letters  to  each  other  and  to  congratulate  themselves 
that  they  were  no  longer  "under  the  abject  do- 


74  HENRY  CLAY 

minion  of  Mr.  H.  Clay  &  Co."  1  Mr.  Clay's  com 
mand  of  the  political  situation  was  quite  absolute, 
and  he  had  won  it  fairly  at  the  early  age  of  thirty - 
five,  by  his  gifts  of  public  speech  and  by  his  reason 
ing  faculties  which  had  been  so  skilfully  and  indus 
triously  employed  in  behalf  of  a  movement  calcu 
lated  to  win  the  applause  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people. 

Because  of  the  unfortunate  course  of  affairs  in  the 
field,  however,  and  the  determined  opposition  of 
New  England,  President  Madison  and  his  advisers 
were  quite  willing  to  listen  to  the  Czar  of  Russia's 
suggestion  of  peace  when  it  came,  through  his 
minister  at  Washington,  early  in  1813.  Albert 
Gallatin,  who  could  no  longer  make  himself  useful 
in  the  Treasury  Department,  and  Senator  James  A. 
Bayard,  an  excellent  old  Federalist  of  Delaware, 
were  asked  to  join  John  Quincy  Adams,  our 
Minister  to  Russia  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  await 
developments. 

So  eager  had  the  President  been  to  set  is  envoys 
about  their  task  that  he  had  not  thought  to  get 
from  Great  Britain  an  expression  of  her  views.  It 
was  soon  learned  that  mediation  was  not  desired  by 
her,  and  that  the  Russian  emperor's  interposition 
was  quite  gratuitous.  Nevertheless,  she  expressed 
a  willingness  to  discuss  the  terms  of  a  possible  peace 
at  a  city  of  her  own  selection,  preferably  London  or 
Gottenburg,  in  Sweden,  though  the  place  of  meeting 
was  later  changed  to  Ghent,  in  the  Netherlands. 
When  these  facts  became  known  to  President 
Madison,  he  added  to  the  commission  the  names  of 

1  Randolph  to  Quiiicy,  June  20,  1813.     Qniney's  Life,  p.  332. 


THE  AVAR  OF  1812  76 

Jonathan  Eussell,  then  the  American  Minister  to 
Sweden,  and  Henry  Clay,  making  it  a  body  of  five 
members. 

Clay  resigned  the  speakership  on  January  14, 
1814,  and  set  off  to  join  his  colleagues.  Great 
Britain's  envoys,  three  in  number,  kept  the  Ameri 
cans  waiting  for  about  a  month,  but  at  the  end  of 
that  time  all  were  upon  the  scene.  The  negotia 
tions  began  in  August.  Mr.  Clay  continued  to 
represent  in  diplomacy  the  policies  which  had 
engaged  his  attention  as  a  leader  in  Congress,  and  in 
much  the  same  manner.  If  we  may  judge  from 
John  Quincy  Adams's  journal,  he  was  still  the 
leader  of  young  America,  full  of  the  bounding  spirit 
of  the  West.  Enthusiastically  national,  rather  im 
patient  of  diplomatic  restraints,  belligerent  in  the 
face  of  contradiction,  he  was  a  factor  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  the  councils  of  the  commission.  He 
was  the  fighting  antithesis  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
steeped  in  the  Puritan  traditions  of  K"ew  England, 
confident  in  his  learning  and  tenacious  of  the  nice 
ties  of  speech  and  behavior  to  which  he  had  been 
bred.  The  able  Gallatin  was  the  peacemaker, 
soothing  and  allaying  their  differences  when  they 
seemed  so  great  as  almost  to  preclude  reconciliation. 

Mr.  Adams  found  in  the  young  Kentuckian  a 
"  harsh,  angry^  and  overbearing  tone."  "It  al 
ways  offends  me  in  him,"  Mr.  Adams  wrote  in  his 
diary  one  day,  in  December,  1814,  though  he 
thought  that  being  sometimes  not  free  from  this 
himself  he  should  excuse  it,  "  as  the  involuntary  ef 
fusion  of  a  too  positive  temper."  x  Clay  vigorously 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  103. 


76  HENEY  CLAY 

defended  the  Western,  which  was  the  larger  Ameri 
can  view  of  the  war,  and  set  forth  what  his  sec 
tion  was  to  gain  by  the  treaty.  The  very  surprising 
demands  of  Great  Britain  that  peace  should  be  con 
cluded  by  the  grant  of  a  large  territory  south  of  the 
Great  Lakes,  to  be  occupied  by  the  Indians  under 
British  guaranty  ;  the  relinquishnient  of  the  right  of 
the  United  States  to  keep  armed  vessels  on  the 
Lakes  ;  the  cession  of  a  strip  of  Maine,  over  which 
to  construct  a  road  from  Halifax  to  Quebec ;  and 
the  renewal  of  the  English  right  to  navigate  the 
Mississippi,  which  had  been  enjoyed  before  1783, 
were  not  acceptable  to  any  commissioner.  When, 
however,  it  was  a  question  of  which  particular  pro 
visions  should  be  accepted  by  way  of  compromise, 
there  was  a  great  contest  between  Massachusetts  and 
Kentucky,  between  the  East  and  the  West.  The 
proposal  to  introduce  an  article  giving  the  United 
States  the  right  to  fish  and  cure  fish  in  British  juris 
diction  as  a  quid  pro  quo  for  the  right  to  navigate 
the  Mississippi  at  once  aroused  the  lion  in  Clay. 
The  fisheries  were  no  return  for  such  a  privilege,  he 
declared  with  stirring  emphasis.  He  always  i  i  lost 
his  temper,"  says  Mr.  Adams,  when  this  subject 
was  discussed. 

It  was  argued  in  vain  that  any  surrender  of  fish 
ing  rights,  or  of  the  territory  of  Maine,  "  would 
give  a  handle  to  the  party  there,  now  pushing  for  a 
separation  from  the  Union  and  for  a  New  Eng 
land  confederacy."  Clay  retorted  that  u  there  was 
no  use  in  trying  to  conciliate  people  who  would  not 
be  conciliated.  There  might  at  some  future  day  be 
a  party  for  separation  in  the  Western  states  also. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  77 

The  government  too  often  sacrificed  the  interests  of 
its  best  friends  for  those  of  its  bitterest  enemies. " ' 
Mr.  Clay  declared  that  "he  would  do  nothing  to 
satisfy  disaffection  and  treason  ;  he  would  not  yield 
anything  for  the  sake  of  them. ' '  2  When  the  com 
missioners  had  under  discussion  an  article  giving 
the  British  the  right  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  he 
walked  up  and  down  the  room,  repeating  five  or  six 
times,  ' '  I  will  never  sign  a  treaty  upon  the  status 
ante  beUum  with  the  Indian  article,  so  help  me 
God."  :5  Thus  did  the  discussions  of  the  commis 
sioners  proceed  with  a  good  deal  of  the  rough  and 
tumble  of  a  legislative  chamber,  Gallatin  now  and 
again  bringing  "all  to  unison  by  a  joke."  * 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  72. 
5  Ibid.,  p.  101. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  103. 

4  Something  concerning  the  relations  subsisting  between  the 
commissioners  may  be  gleaned  from  these  words  which  are  con 
tained  in  a  long  letter  written  by  Jonathan  Russell  to  Mr.  Clay 
from  Stockholm  on  October  15,  1815  : 

"  If  the  individual  thus  sought  [John  Quincy  Adams]  should 
be  a  kind  of  laborious  pedant  without  judgment  enough  to  be 
useful,  or  taste  sufficient  to  be  admired  ;  who  is  suspected  of 
forgetting  his  country  in  the  pursuit  of  little  personal  or  family 
interests  ;  and  who  is  known  frequently  to  forget  himself  in  a 
paroxysm  of  unmanageable  passion  ;  who  had  had  the  virtue  to 
mask  his  participation  in  the  resentments  of  his  father  under  the 
affectation  of  patriotism ;  and  the  patriotism  to  desert  his  party 
when  it  had  lost  its  power  ;  who  adopts  the  most  extravagant 
opinions  in  the  hectic  of  the  moment  and  defends  them  with 
obstinacy  and  vehemence  while  the  fever  lasts  and  thus  reduces 
himself  to  the  miserable  alternative  of  being  constantly  absurd 
or  ridiculously  inconsistent ;  who  has  neither  dignity  to  com 
mand  nor  address  to  persuade  and  is  therefore  as  unqualified  to 
rule  others  as  he  is  to  govern  himself  ;  who  believes  the  national 
prosperity  to  consist  in  the  prosperity  of  a  district  and  circum 
scribes  his  love  of  country  within  the  confines  of  the  state  in 
which  he  was  born;  who  would  barter  the  patriotic  blood  of  the 
West  for  blubber  and  exchange  ultra- Alleghauy  scalps  for  cod 
fish,"  etc.,  etc. 


78  HENEY  CLAY 

Finally,  the  day  before  Christmas,  1814,  an  agree 
ment  with  the  British  representatives  was  reached 
and  the  peace  was  concluded.  It  was  not  on  tern  s 
very  heroic  for  the  United  States.  Nothing  w;  s 
said  in  the  treaty  about  the  right  of  search,  the  im 
pressment  of  sailors  and  the  freedom  of  international 
commerce.  "Free  Trade  and  Seamen's  Eights," 
for  which  the  war  had  been  begun  and  waged,  were 
quietly  passed  over.  The  country's  gain  had  not 
been  as  great  as  many,  and  Mr.  Clay  preeminently, 
had  desired ;  but  he  had  the  joy  of  knowing  that 
he  had  had  a  hand  in  bringing  to  naught  the  pre 
posterous  demands  with  which  Great  Britain  had 
begun  the  negotiations.  Whatever  real  disappoint 
nient  was  felt  because  of  the  result  was  assuaged  by 
Jackson's  impressive  victory  at  New  Orleans,  in  a 
battle  fought,  it  is  true,  after  peace  had  been 
signed,  though  before  the  news  of  it  had  reached 
America. 

Mr.  Clay,  after  completing  his  tasks  at  Ghent, 
was  instructed  to  visit  London  with  Adams  and 
Gallatin  to  see  if  the  work  j  ust  ended  could  not  be 
supplemented  by  a  treaty  of  commerce.  He  was 
loath  to  do  so,  and  lingered  for  a  time  in  Paris. 
After  he  learned  of  the  victory  at  New  Orleans,  he 
exclaimed,  "  Now  I  can  go  to  England  without 
mortification,"  and  he  crossed  the  Channel.  Noth 
ing  of  material  benefit  to  the  United  States,  however, 
was  obtained  by  negotiations  covering  three  months' 
time.  He  reached  home  in  September,  1815,  after 
an  absence  of  about  eighteen  months,  and  possibly 
barring  the  triumphant  Jackson,  found  himself  the 
hero  of  the  war.  Upon  stepping  ashore  in  New 


THE  WAR  OF  1812  79 

York,  he  was  dined  by  a  distinguished  company  of 
citizens,  and  his  progress  to  Lexington  was  a  series 
of  ovations.  On  October  7th,  he  was  the  guest  at  a 
public  dinner  in  his  own  little  city  in  Kentucky. 
His  friends  gathered  to  honor  him.  Toasts  were 
proposed  to — 

"  Our  negotiators  at  Ghent:  their  talents  have 
kept  pace  with  the  valor  of  our  arms,  in  demon 
strating  to  the  enemy  that  these  states  will  be  free." 

"  Our  guest,  Henry  Clay  :  we  welcome  his  return 
to  that  country  whose  rights  and  interests  he  has  so 
ably  maintained  at  home  and  abroad." 

One  of  his  florid  biographers  asserts  that  his  re 
ception  in  Kentucky  was  "like  that  of  a  dutiful 
and  affectionate  son  in  the  long  and  passionate 
embrace  of  a  beloved  mother. ' ' l  His  speech  to  his 
admirers,  it  may  be  objected,  was  still  that  of  a  jingo, 
but  he  had  the  facts  on  his  side.  There  had  been 
tremendous  gain  in  the  strengthening  of  a  national 
sense  at  home,  and  the  enforcement  of  respect  for 
the  republic  abroad.  Great  Britain  had  never  quite 
relinquished  her  hope  of  regaining  the  territory  she 
had  lost  on  this  continent  by  the  Revolution.  As 
late  as  1860,  she  still  regarded  the  country  as  a  loose 
union  of  contentious  states  of  a  highly  primitive 
nature.  Mr.  Clay  spoke  truly  at  Lexington  : 

"  Abroad  our  character,  which  at  the  time  of  its 
[the  war's]  declaration  was  in  the  lowest  state  of 
degradation,  is  raised  to  the  highest  point  of  eleva 
tion.  It  is  impossible  for  any  American  to  visit 
Europe  without  being  sensible  of  this  agreeable 
change,  in  the  personal  attentions  which  he  receives, 
»Mallory,Vol.I,  pp.  86-87. 


80  HENKY  CLAY 

in  the  praises  which  are  bestowed  oil  our  past 
exertions,  and  the  predictions  which  are  made  as  to 
our  future  prospects.  At  home  a  government, 
which,  at  its  formation,  was  apprehended  by  its  best 
friends,  and  pronounced  by  its  enemies  to  be  in 
capable  of  standing  the  shock,  is  found  to  answer 
all  the  purposes  of  its  institution.  .  .  .  Our 
prospects  for  the  future  are  of  the  brightest  kind." 
Thus  was  the  way  prepared  for  Clay  immediately 
to  enter  that  course  of  public  life,  for  the  enrichment 
and  aggrandizement  of  the  country  by  a  vigorous 
domestic  policy  with  which  he  became  so  promi 
nently  identified  during  the  ensuing  thirty  years. 
Old  leaders  and  old  parties  left  the  stage  ;  Clay, 
Webster,  Calhoun  and  Benton  came  on. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CONSTRUCTIVE   POLICIES 

THAT  Mr.  Clay  now  had  his  eyes  set  upon  the 
presidency  has  been  assumed  by  his  principal  biog 
raphers.1  Indeed,  it  was  constantly  said  of  him 
during  his  lifetime  that  his  ambitious  warped  his 
views  and  shaped  his  policies.  It  has  been  re 
marked,  with  very  great  truth,  that  characteristics 
in  Clay,  fancied  or  real,  would  always  be  brought  ^ 
forward  to  his  disadvantage,  while  similar  traits 
in  others  did  not  occasion  even  p  ssing  comment.2 
According  to  the  American  theory  of  government, 

1  Compare  Sclmrz,  for  instance. 

2  "  It  has  been  objected  to  Henry  Clay  that'he  was  ambitious. 
So  he  was.     But  in  him  ambition  was  a  virtue.     It  sought  only 
the   proper,  fair  objects  of  honorable  ambition,  and  it  sought 
these  by  honorable  means  only — by  so  serving  the  country  as  to 
deserve  its  favors,  and  its  honors.     If  he  sought  office,  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  by  the  power  it  would  give  to 
serve  his  country  more  effectually  and  preeminently,  and,  if  he 
expected  and  desired  thereby  to  advance  his  own  fame,  who 
will  say  that  it  was  a  fault?     Who  will  say  that  it  was  a  fault 
to  seek  and  desire  office  for  any  of  the  personal  gratifications  it 
may  afford,  so  long  as  those  gratifications  are  made  subordinate 
to  the  public  good  ? 

"That  Henry  Clay's  object  in  desiring  office  was  to  serve 
his  country,  and  that  he  would  have  made  air  other  objects 
subservient,  I  have  no  doubt.  I  knew  him  well.  I  had  full 
opportunity  of  observing  him,  his  most  unguarded  moments 
and  conversations,  and  I  can  say  that  I  have  never  known  a 
more  unselfish,  a  more  faithful  and  intrepid  representative  of 
the  people,  of  the  people's  rights,  and  the  people's  interests, 
than  Henry  Clay." — From  Address  on  the  Life  and  Death  of 
Henry  Clay,  by  John  J.  Crittenden. 


82  HENEY  CLAY 

it  is  a  laudable  desire  for  a  man  to  entertain  a  wish 
to  be  President.  It  was  formerly  a  more  familiar 
ambition  than  in  these  days,  and  each  male  child 
was  encouraged  in  the  thought  that  he  might  at  some 
future  day  sit  in  the  White  House.  Clay's  interests 
and  talents,  the  appreciation  that  he  merited  and 
received  and  the  great  prominence  which  he  attained 
naturally  led  him  to  hope,  and  indeed  expect,  that 
he  might  at  length  be  the  choice  of  the  nation  for  a 
post  many  times  occupied  during  his  life  by  men 
vastly  inferior  to  him  in  every  essential  particular. 

Quite  plainly  one  of  these  was  James  Monroe,  who 
came  to  the  office  in  succession  to  James  Madison, 
and  whose  Secretary  of  State  Mr.  Clay  may  have 
thought  that  he  should  have  been  upon  his  return 
from  Ghent.  Madison  had  asked  him  to  take  the 
Kussian  mission  and  then  to  become  Secretary  of 
War.  Monroe  repeated  the  offer  of  the  War  port 
folio  and  the  mission  to  England,  but  chose  as  his 
Secretary  of  State  John  Quincy  Adams,  thus  in  so 
far  as  tradition  and  precedent  could  avail  indicating 
Mr.  Adams  for  the  successorship  in  the  presidential 
office.  The  step  from  the  State  Department  to  the 
White  House  was  regularly  taken  in  this  period  of 
the  country's  history. 

Mr.  Adams,  in  point  of  accomplishments  and  ex 
perience,  was  rather  clearly  marked  out  for  this  dis 
tinction,  and  it  is  by  no  means  fair  to  suppose  that 
Mr.  Clay's  future  course  in  opposition  to  several  ad 
ministration  policies  was  prompted  by  any  personal 
chagrin.  It  is  natural  to  think  that  he  preferred 
the  "give  and  take"  and  the  jostle  of  a  legislative 
body  where  his  preeminent  powers  as  an  orator 


CONSTKUCTIVE  POLICIES  83 

caused  him  to  shine  before  the  world.  His  position 
as  Speaker  of  the  House,  to  which  he  was  returned 
in  December,  1815,  his  friends  and  neighbors  in 
Kentucky  having  immediately  reflected  him  to 
Congress,  was  one  of  great  influence  and  he  could 
have  found  very  little  in  the  cabinet  or  a  foreign  mis 
sion  to  compensate  for  the  enjoyment  which  came  to 
him  from  active  part  in  parliamentary  life. 

The  Eepublican  majorities  in  both  branches  of 
Congress  were  overwhelming.  The  Federalists  had 
been  almost  obliterated  by  their  unpopular  policy 
in  combating  the  war,  and  it  was  the  task  of  Clay, 
with  other  young  men,  to  prepare  the  way  for  a 
realignment  of  parties.  It  is  very  likely  true  that  he 
did  not  have  the  philosophical  backgrounds  for  a 
work  of  this  kind,  and  to  say  that  his  course  was 
not  always  a  consistent  one  is  easy.  Nevertheless, 
he  rapidly  formulated  his  views  and  was  soon  in  a 
fair  way  either  to  reform  the  ^Republican  party  upon 
lines  of  his  own  making,  or  to  constitute  himself  the 
leader  of  a  new  party.  With  Jackson  coming  for 
ward  as  the  heir  to  Eepublicanism,  which  soon  as 
sumed  the  more  popular  name  of  Democracy,  it  was 
his  destiny  to  take  the  alternative  course  and  assist 
at  the  birth  of  the  Whig  party,  which  became  the 
natural  inheritor  of  the  loose-constructionist  view  of 
the  Constitution.  His  constructive  policies  in  re 
gard  to  the  upbuilding  of  native  industries,  the  de 
velopment  of  our  internal  resources  by  the  making 
of  roads  and  canals  and  through  other  means,  his 
pleas  for  the  national  defense,  marked  him  as  a  man 
who  held  the  nation  above  the  state  and  the  sense 
above  the  letter  of  the  Constitution.  He  hewed  his 


84  HENRY  CLAY 

way  with  marked  determination,  and  with  few  lapses 
in  that  virtue,  so  highly  esteemed  in  political  life, 
consistency.  His  imagination,  which  led  him  to 
picture  glowing  scenes,  the  fine  periods  which  he 
could  so  well  use  in  the  description  of  them  to  others, 
effectually  marked  him  for  the  constructive  side  in 
politics  and  until  the  end  this  was  his  course,  inter 
rupted  as  it  was  only  by  his  famous  services  em 
ployed  again  and  again  in  pacifying  the  sections  in 
the  slavery  dispute,  growing  more  ominous  year  by 
year. 

Now  that  the  war  was  at  an  end,  it  would  have 
been  truly  Jeffersonian,  if  he  had  still  been  a  fol 
lower  of  the  leader  whom  he  acknowledged  when  he 
began  his  political  life,  to  have  been  an  advocate  of 
a  reduction  of  taxation.  This  he  could  not  be.  He 
had  visions  of  a  greater  nation  and  he  wished  it  to 
be  defended  against  future  wars.  Not  only  would 
he  maintain  the  present  augmented  naval  and  laud 
forces,  but  he  would  still  further  increase  them. 
He  favored  the  construction  of  military  roads  and 
canals  and  steam  batteries  for  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Chesapeake.  "  In  short,"  said  he,  "I  won  Id 
act  seriously,  effectually  act,  on  the  principle  that 
in  peace  we  ought  to  prepare  for  war." 

But  this  was  only  a  part  of  what  he  wished  the 
government  to  be.  It  must  undertake  "the  great 
work  too  long  delayed  of  internal  improvement," 
which  was  to  include  "a  chain  of  turnpike  roads 
and  canals  from  Passamaquoddy  to  New  Orleans." 
He  also  announced  a  policy  which  would  u  effec 
tually  protect  our  manufactories,"  and  "not  so  much 
for  the  sake  of  the  manufacturers  themselves,  a«  for 


COXSTEUCTIVE  POLICIES  85 

the  general  interest.7'  "Let  us  now  do  something 
to  ameliorate  the  internal  condition  of  the  country,'* 
said  he  to  his  friends  in  the  House.  "  Let  us  show 
that  objects  of  domestic  no  less  than  of  foreign  policy, 
receive  our  attention.'7  * 

These  policies  were  supplemented  by  another,  the 
establishment  of  a  national  bank,  to  put  to  rights 
the  disordered  currency  system,  and  to  make  the 
government  an  efficient  agency  in  the  important 
work  of  internal  upbuilding,  which  Mr.  Clay  so  el 
oquently  advocated.  It  is  true,  and  much  was  made 
of  this  by  his  foes,  that,  while  a  member  of  the  Sen 
ate  in  1811,  he  had  opposed  the  renewal  of  the  bank's 
charter,  largely  it  would  seem  because  he  believed 
it  to  be  a  foreign  corporation  ;  i.  e.,  a  corporation 
whose  stock  was  principally  owned  abroad.  It 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  plans  for  the  War  of  1812. 
On  the  constitutional  issue  he  had  been  wrong  on 
that  occasion  rather  than  now,  because  a  bank  fitted 
perfectly  into  his  system  of  politics.  He  had  the 
wisdom  to  see  this  and  the  courage  to  announce  a 
change  of  his  attitude  on  the  question.  l  i  He  pre 
ferred  to  the  suggestions  of  the  pride  of  consistency 
the  evident  interests  of  the  community,  and  deter 
mined  to  throw  himself  upon  their  candor  and  jus 
tice."2 

Little  weight  need  be  given  to  the  consideration 
that  in  1811  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  had  directed 
him  to  oppose  the  bank,  while  in  1816  the  popular 
sentiment  of  his  state  seemed  to  favor  it.  Possibly 
in  1811  this  fact  may  have  had  its  influence  with 

1  Colton,  Life,  Correspondence  and  Speeches.  Vol.  V.  pp.  98-99, 
.  79. 


86  HENKY  CLAY 

him,  since  lie  was  then  a  young  man.  Now  he  was 
a  leader  who  was  well  above  the  need  of  receiving 
instructions  from  any  local  source.  The  plain  truth 
seems  to  be  that  Mr.  Clay  was  now  his  natural  self, 
and  when  he  fully  understood  the  part  which  one  of 
his  type  of  mind  was  to  play  in  our  politics,  he 
deviated  very  slightly  from  the  indicated  way.  His 
changes  were  as  nothing  compared,  for  example, 
with  Webster's  on  the  tariff  question  and  on  the  7th 
of  March,  1850,  and  those  which  altered  the  entire 
complexion  of  John  C.  Calhoun  as  a  public  man. l 

The  session  resulted  in  a  charter  being  granted 
for  twenty  years  to  the  Second  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  which  served  its  useful  purposes  to  the  nation 
until  the  period  expired,  when,  arousing  all  the  ele 
mental  ire  of  Jackson,  it  was  swept  away.  The 
protective  tariff  and  the  internal  improvement 
features  of  the  Young  Eepublicau  programme  were 
developed  with  the  same  rapidity  and  with  practi 
cally  little  opposition.  George  M.  Dallas  of  Penn 
sylvania,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  voicing  the 
industrial  ambitions  of  his  state,  proposed  a  scheme 
of  duties,  which  in  all  its  substantial  parts  became 
the  Tariff  Law  of  1816.  Clay,  Calhoun  and  their 
friends  quoted  the  arguments  of  Hamilton  on  the 
subject  of  protection  against  the  Federalists,  who 
were  now  so  far  out  of  accord  with  their  own  his 
tory  that  they  were  opposing  the  policy. 

No  other  definite  plan  presenting  itself  on  the 

subject  of  internal  improvements,  Clay  took  up  the 

advocacy  of  a  bill  to  set  apart  the  proceeds  of  the 

United  States'  connection  with  the  national  bank  as 

1  Cotton.  Vol.  V,  p.  108;  Hunt,  Calhoun,  pp.  318-320. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  87 

a  fund  for  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals,  and 
the  improvement  of  navigation  on  internal  water 
courses.  This  sum  would  include  the  bonus  paid  to 
the  government  by  the  bank  as  the  price  of  its  ex 
istence,  and  the  dividends  on  the  shares  held  by  the 
United  States.  The  measure  was  justified  on  con 
stitutional  grounds  because  it  would  forward  inter 
state  commerce,  and  facilitate  the  common  defense. 
In  his  speech  on  February  4,  1817,  Clay  said  he  had 
"  long  thought "  that  there  were  "  no  two  subjects 
which  could  engage  the  attention  of  the  national 
legislature  more  worthy  of  its  deliberate  consider 
ation,  than  those  of  internal  improvements  and  do 
mestic  manufactures. "  He  now  had  in  mind  the 
improvement  of  navigation  at  the  rapids  in  the  Ohio 
River,  a  canal  from  the  Hudson  River  to  the  Great 
Lakes  and  a  turnpike  road  to  parallel  the  Atlantic 
coast  from  Maine  to  Florida.  He  was  delighted  to 
know  of  the  early  prospect  of  the  completion  of  a 
good  highway  for  wagons  between  Baltimore  and 
the  Ohio,  and  the  consequent  reduction  of  time  con 
sumed  in  the  journey  from  eight  to  three  days. 
Similar  benefits  would  follow  wherever  this  "  spe 
cies  of  improvement"  should  be  effected.  As  to 
the  constitutionality  of  the  course,  it  need  not  be 
pressed  at  this  time.  The  fund  could  be  created, 
and  when  it  had  accumulated,  if  in  the  view  of 
Congress  its  expenditure  were  adjudged  the  part  of 
wisdom  in  the  light  of  constitutional  considerations, 
that  policy  might  be  pursued.  The  old  Virginians, 
however,  representing  the  strict  constructionist  view 
of  the  government  inherited  from  the  eighteenth 
century,  wholly  distrusted  the  advice  of  the  younger 


88  HENRY  CLAY 

Republicans  on  this  subject,  and  Madison  vetoed 
the  bill,  the  last  act  of  his  official  career.1 

Monroe  made  no  concealment  of  his  hostility  to  a 
similar  measure,  if  it  should  be  offered  in  Congress, 
and  his  first  message  contained  a  denial  of  any  such 
constitutional  right.  To  a  man  like  Clay  a  state 
ment  of  this  kind  was  a  challenge,  and  he  had  noth 
ing  to  surrender  on  the  point  so  long  as  he  lived. 
Reflected  to  the  speakership,  he  still  was  able  in 
Committee  of  the  Whole  to  develop  his  ideas  fully 
and  eloquently.  On  March  13,  1818,  he  spoke  at 
much  length  upon  a  measure  essentially  the  same  as 
that  which  had  been  vetoed  by  President  Madison. 
This  was  thought  to  be  the  best  speech  which  Clay 
had  made  up  to  that  time,  and  it  marked  him  as  an 
able  expounder  of  constitutional  questions,  a  field 
into  which  he  had  not  yet  very  far  proceeded.  He 
now  boldly  took  issue  with  Jefferson,  Madison  and 
Monroe,  and  those  theories  which  they  represented 
in  the  President's  office  for  twenty- four  years.  He 
' l  utterly  despaired ' '  of  any  amendment  to  the 
Constitution  which  these  three  Executives,  one 
after  another,  had  recommended  to  the  advocates  of 
internal  improvements.  As  for  himself,  he  believed 
the  power  already  to  rest  with  Congress.  Its  ex 
istence  he  held  u  as  of  the  first  importance,  not 
merely  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union  of  the  States, 
paramount  as  that  consideration  ever  should  be  over 
all  others,  but  to  the  prosperity  of  every  great  in 
terest  of  the  country — agriculture,  manufactures, 
commerce,  in  peace  and  in  war." 

The  power  to  make  roads  and  canals  was  needed, 

lHuut,  Madison,  p.  360. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  89 

said  Clay,  "  to  distribute  the  intelligence,  force  and 
production  of  the  country  through  all  its  parts." 
This  was  the  declaration  of  a  statesman  of  imagiua-  * 
tiou  who  had  ideals  for  the  nation  above  those  to  be 
obtained  from  any  literal  reading  of  the  words  and 
phrases  of  the  Constitution.  He  plainly  said  that 
no  maker  of  constitutions  could  "  foresee  and  pro 
vide  specifically  for  all  contingencies."  "  Man  and 
his  language,"  he  continued,  "are  both  imperfect. 
Hence  the  existence  of  construction  and  constructive 
powers.  Hence,  also,  the  rule  that  a  grant  of  the 
end  is  a  grant  of  the  means.  If  you  amend  the  4 
Constitution  a  thousand  times,  the  same  imperfec 
tion  of  our  nature  and  our  language  will  attend  our 
new  works." 

In  discussing  the  theory  of  state  rights,  as  it  was 
held  in  Virginia,  and  as  it  had  more  lately  revealed 
itself  in  Massachusetts,  in  reference  to  the  War  of 
1812,  Mr.  Clay  said:  "No  man  deprecates  more 
than  I  do  the  idea  of  consolidation ;  yet  between 
separation  and  consolidation,  painful  as  would  be 
the  alternative,  I  would  greatly  prefer  the  latter.'* 
Always  exhibiting  in  his  speeches  a  profitable  read 
ing  of  ancient  history,  he  referred  to  the  value  of 
military  roads  to  "  those  great  masters  of  the  world," 
the  Romans,  who  thus  sustained  their  power  for  so 
many  centuries,  "  diffusing  law  and  liberty  and  in 
telligence  all  around  them."  He  thought  that  if 
there  were  "no  other  monument  remaining  of  the 
sagacity  and  of  the  illustrious  deeds  of  the  unfortu 
nate  captive  of  St.  Helena,  that  the  road  from 
Hamburg  to  Basle  would  perpetuate  his  memory  to 
future  ages."  Concluding,  Mr.  Clay  said:  "Of 


90  HENEY  CLAY 

all  the  modes  in  which  a  government  can  employ 
its  surplus  revenue,  none  is  more  permanently 
beneficial  than  that  of  internal  improvement. 
Fixed  to  the  soil,  it  becomes  a  desirable  part  of  the 
land  itself,  diffusing  comfort,  and  activity,  and  ani 
mation  on  all  sides."  This  speech  was  an  excellent 
evidence  of  Clay's  oratory  at  this  fruitful  period  ii3 
his  leadership.  It  was  "  this  enthusiastic  concep 
tion  of  national  grandeur,  this  lofty  unionism,  con 
stantly  appearing  as  the  inspiration  of  his  public 
conduct,7'  as  Mr.  Schurz  says,  which  "  gave  to  his 
policies,  as  they  stood  forth  in  the  glow  of  his  elo 
quence,  a  peculiarly  potent  charm." 

While  to  some  it  may  have  seemed  a  daring 
thing  for  Mr.  Clay  to  express  himself  in  such  a 
sense,  in  opposition  to  the  teachings  of  men  who 
had  sat  in  the  constitutional  convention,  and  pro 
jected  its  wisdom  into  the  new  century,  he  was  not 
deterred  by  any  such  considerations.  Mr.  Schurz 
finds  in  the  young  Kentuckian's  criticism  of  Monroe 
a  discreditable  personal  motive.  Mr.  Clay  was 
quite  justified  in  stating  a  difference  of  opinion 
with  the  President,  if  he  felt  it  to  be  of  advantage 
to  the  discussion.  Undoubtedly  Mr.  Monroe  him 
self  was  very  much  disturbed  by  Mr.  Clay's  hos 
tility,  since  he  had  made  every  effort  to  conciliate 
the  powerful  Speaker  of  the  House.  The  Presi 
dent's  porter  was  instructed  to  admit  Mr.  Clay  at 
all  times,  even  when  the  cabinet  was  in  session,  and 
once  (prior  to  November  23,  1817)  when  he  had  de 
clined  the  servant's  invitation,  Mr.  Monroe  came  out 
in  person,  and  brought  him  into  the  council.1  Secre- 

1  Mrs.  Smith,  First  Forty  Years  of  Washington  Society,  p.  141. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  91 

tary  of  State  Adanis  also  took  umbrage  at  Mr. 
Clay's  conduct,  seeing  iu  it  intrigue  with  reference 
to  the  presidency  at  the  next  election,  supposed  to 
be  assured  to  him.1 

In  still  another  way  did  Clay  appear  to  Monroe  to 
be  a  gadfly  upon  his  flank,  and  this  was  in  connec 
tion  with  the  government's  policy  in  South  America. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  Clay's  course  in  this  mat 
ter  was  bred  of  sincere,  though  somewhat  youth 
fully  enthusiastic  sympathy  for  the  Spanish  Ameri 
can  peoples.  As  he  gave  rein  to  his  imagination  he  v 
rose  to  heights  of  declamation  which  seem  not  to 
have  been  warranted  by  all  the  facts.  It  was,  how 
ever,  a  policy  suggested  by  a  liberal  heart  and, 
knowing  his  character,  we  cannot  very  well  conceive 
of  his  being  silent  on  this  subject.  Incidentally, 
it  was  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  display  of 
his  eloquence,  and  serves  to  entrench  him  in  his 
position  as  one  of  the  great  orators  of  the  age.  He 
had  said  in  the  West  Florida  speech  in  the  Senate  in 
L810,  i  i  I  have  no  commiseration  for  princes  ;  my 
sympathies  are  reserved  for  the  great  mass  of  man 
kind  ;  "  and  now  he  burst  out  in  a  flood  of  impas 
sioned  eloquence,  in  behalf  of  the  American  subjects 
of  Spain,  struggling  for  their  independence. 

The  wars  had  been  in  progress  for  several  years. 
They  were  waged  tediously  with  many  of  those 
horrors,  reports  of  which  led  to  the  awakening  of 
our  sympathies  in  regard  to  the  Cubans  eighty  years 
later.  The  leaders  of  the  insurgents  were  inspired 
by  the  example  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  in 
gaining  their  independence  of  the  overlordship  of 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  64,  66. 


92  HENRY  CLAY 

Europe.  The  proposal  which  Clay  now  advocated 
was  recognition  by  the  American  government  of  the 
so-called  United  Provinces  of  Eio  de  la  Plata,  to 
which  he  wished  us  to  dispatch  a  minister.  Com 
missioners  had  been  sent  to  South  America  to  in 
vestigate  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  the  adminis 
tration  was  not  unmindful  of  the  situation  in  that 
part  of  the  globe  and  of  the  obligations  of  the  United 
States  toward  neighboring  peoples  who  were  st rain 
ing  every  nerve  to  gain  their  liberties.  The  speech 
which  Clay  delivered  on  this  subject  on  March  24, 
1818,  to  use  his  biographer  Colton's  words,  "came 
down  with  tremendous  effect"  on  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  the  country  at  large,  on  the 
Spanish  Provinces,  on  Spain  herself,  and  on  all 
Europe.  "  It  was  republican  America  from  Cape 
Horn  to  Hudson's  Bay  against  monarchical  Europe 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  Finland,  that  suddenly 
started  up  before  the  surprised  imaginations  of 
men.''  l 

Clay  had  had  war  in  view  when  he  had  formulated 
his  policies  upon  his  return  from  the  mission  to 
Ghent.  He  would  not  foment  or  urge  it,  but  he 
wished  the  nation  so  to  strengthen  itself  that  it- 
could  at  all  times  upon  all  subjects  pursue  a  course 
of  righteousness,  undeterred  by  considerations  af 
fecting  the  conduct  of  other  powers  as  a  result  of  this 
course.  He  now  stated  his  aversion  to  war  with 
Spain,  although  she  had  given  "  abundant  and  just 
cause."  He  had  seen  enough  of  it  and  nothing 
could  make  him  think  that  it  was  else  than  a 
u dreadful  scourge."  Nevertheless,  he  had  views 
1  Vol.  V,  p.  137. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  93 

which  ho  was  bound  to  express,  and  the  govern 
ment  had  duties  which  it  was  obliged  to  perform. 
"In  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of 
Spanish  America,"  he  said,  "the  United  States 
have  the  deepest  interest.  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
asserting  my  firm  belief  that  there  is  no  question  in 
the  foreign  policy  of  this  country  which  has  ever 
arisen,  or  which  I  can  conceive  as  ever  occurring  in 
the  decision  of  which  we  have  had,  or  can  have  so 
much  at  stake.  This  interest  concerns  our  politics, 
our  commerce,  our  navigation.  There  cannot  be  a 
doubt  that  Spanish  America  once  independent, 
whatever  may  be  the  form,  of  the  governments  es 
tablished  in  the  several  parts,  these  governments 
will  be  animated  by  an  American  feeling  and 
guided  by  an  American  policy." 

He  adverted  to  the  charge  that  the  people  were 
too  ignorant  and  too  superstitious  to  admit  of  the 
existence  of  free  government.  ' '  I  deny  the  alleged 
fact  of  ignorance,"  said  he.  "I  deny  the  inference 
from  that  fact,  if  it  were  true,  that  they  want 
capacity  for  free  government  ;  and  I  refuse  assent  to 
the  further  conclusion,  if  the  fact  were  true,  that  we 
are  to  be  indifferent  to  their  fate. ' '  He  scorned  the 
view  of  those  who  said  that  in  the  independence  of 
Spanish  America  we  should  meet  a  great  rival  in 
agricultural  productions.  "There  is  something  so 
narrow,  and  selfish,  and  groveling  in  this  argument 
if  founded  in  fact, ' '  said  he,  l  i  something  so  unworthy 
the  magnanimity  of  a  great  and  generous  people  that 
I  confess  I  have  scarcely  patience  to  notice  it." 

"We  are,"  the  orator  continued,  "the  natural 
head  of  the  American  family.  I  would  not  inter- 


94  HENRY  CLAY 

meddle  in  the  affairs  of  Europe.  We  wisely  keep 
aloof  from  their  broils.  I  would  not  even  inter 
meddle  in  those  of  other  parts  of  America,  further 
than  to  exert  the  incontestable  rights  appertaining 
to  us  as  a  free,  sovereign  and  independent  power  ; 
and  I  contend  that  the  accrediting  of  a  minister 
from  the  new  republic  is  such  a  right.  We  are 
bound  to  receive  their  minister,  if  we  mean  to  be 
really  neutral.  If  the  royal  belligerent  is  repre 
sented  and  heard  at  our  government,  the  republican 
belligerent  ought  also  to  be  heard." 

Four  days  later,  on  March  28th,  Mr.  Clay  again 
entered  the  discussion  with  a  speech  which  was  in 
deed  but  in  continuation  of  the  first  one.  He  dwelt 
upon  our  own  Revolutionary  history  and  sought  to 
bring  South  America's  condition  home  to  the  sym 
pathies  of  his  hearers.  He  spoke  of  his  old  tutor, 
Chancellor  Wythe,  and  appealed  to  the  patriots  of 
'76  before  him.  Many  portions  of  the  speech  were 
steeped  in  irony,  of  which  few  men  were  in  fuller 
command.  He  had  heard  of  a  proposal  to  send  a 
minister  to  Constantinople.  It  was  an  opportunity 
for  him  to  say  :  l  i  Yes,  sir,  from  Constantinople  or 
from  the  Brazils ;  from  Turk  or  Christian  ;  from 
black  or  white  ;  from  the  Bey  of  Algiers  or  the  Bey 
of  Tunis  ;  from  the  devil  himself,  if  he  wore  a  crown, 
we  should  receive  a  minister.  We  even  paid  the 
expenses  of  the  minister  of  his  sublime  highness, 
the  Bey  of  Tunis,  and  thought  ourselves  highly  hon 
ored  by  the  visit.  But  let  the  minister  come  from 
a  poor  republic,  like  that  of  La  Plata,  and  we  turn 
our  back  on  him.  The  brilliant  costumes  of  the 
ministers  of  the  royal  governments  are  seen  glisten- 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  95 

ing  in  the  circles  of  our  drawing-rooms  and  their 
splendid  equipages  rolling  through  the  avenues  of 
the  metropolis  ;  but  the  unaccredited  minister  of  the 
republic  if  he  visit  our  President,  or  Secretary  of 
State  at  all,  must  do  it  incognito,  lest  the  eye  of 
Don  Onis  [the  Spanish  minister]  should  be  offended 
by  so  unseemly  a  sight." 

Ministers  had  been  exchanged  with  the  Brazils. 
"The  one,  however,  is  a  kingdom,  the  other  are- 
public  ;  and  if  any  gentleman  can  assign  any  other 
better  reason  why  a  minister  should  be  sent  to  one 
and  not  to  the  other  of  these  powers,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  hear  it  disclosed,  for  I  have  not  been  able  myself 
to  discover  it."  "All  the  patriots  ask,"  said  he, 
"  all  they  want  at  our  hands,  is  to  be  recognized  as, 
what  they  have  been  for  the  last  eight  years,  an  in 
dependent  power." 

•"Mr.  Clay's  amendment  was  lost  in  the  House  by 
a  vote  of  115  to  45,  but  he  did  not  abandon  the 
cause  of  the  South  Americans,  who  were  translating 
his  speeches  into  Spanish,  reading  them  to  their 
armies,  incorporating  his  name  in  their  patriotic 
songs,  voting  him  their  thanks  and  in  other  ways 
sending  him  evidences  of  their  gratitude  for  the  aid 
which  he  sought  to  give  them  in  their  extremity. l 
He  was  now  confirmed  in  his  title  as  the  "  Great 
Commoner,"  a  name  which  clung  to  him  through 

1  In  1827  General  Bolivar  wrote  to  Henry  Clay,  thanking  him 
for  his  brilliant  services  in  behalf  of  the  South  Americans,  and 
about  a  year  later  Clay  replied  to  the  letter.  Meantime  he  had 
had  reason  to  doubt  the  motives  of  Bolivar  which  had  once 
seemed  so  pure.  He  spoke  of  the  "  ambitious  designs  "  of  the 
Colombian  leader  which  had  caused  him  "great  solicitude" 
and  suggested  to  him  that  he  prefer  u  the  true  glory  of  our  im 
mortal  Washington."  Mallory,  Vol.  I,  pp.  99-100. 


96  HENItr  CLAY 

life,  the  friend  of  poor,  struggling  humanity  at 
home  aiid  abroad. 

In  the  next  Congress  he  again  brought  up  the 
question  of  recognizing  the  South  Americans.  By 
this  time  the  frame  of  the  public  mind  had  im 
proved.  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Adams  seemed  to  be 
more  favorable  to  action,  and  in  1820  Mr.  Clay's 
resolution  passed  the  House  by  a  vote  of  eighty  to 
seventy-five.  The  administration  was  still  un 
moved,  however,  and  in  February,  1821,  Clay 
brought  forward  a  resolution  embodying  a  similar 
view  which  was  again  approved  by  the  House.  He 
was  the  chairman  of  a  committee  to  visit  the  Presi 
dent,  and  officially  make  known  the  action  of  the 
House  ; l  but  it  was  not  until  March  8,  1822  (more 
than  eighteen  months  prior  to  the  announcement  of 
the  Doctrine,  afterward  become  so  famous)  that 
Monroe,  believing  the  proper  hour  had  arrived,  sent 
a  message  to  Congress,  recommending  the  recogni 
tion  by  the  United  States  of  the  Spanish  American 
Kepublics.  It  met  with  prompt  response.  Clay's 
motives  on  any  subject  seldom  escaped  unhappy 
questioning,  but  here  at  least  he  ought  to  be  credited 
with  sincerity.  They  came  "  straight  from  his 
generous  impulses." 

Clay's  sympathies  for  all  ranks  of  mankind  were 
predominant  again  when  he  reviewed  in  so  notable 
a  way  the  extraordinary  and  lawless  behavior  of 
General  Jackson  in  the  Floridas,  with  reference  to 
the  Seminole  Indians.  He  perhaps  may  not  have 

1  For  Adams's  views  at  this  time  see  Memoirs,  Vol.  V,  pp. 
324-3-35. 

8Schurz,  p.  168. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  97 

before  fathomed  the  ''military  hero's"  power  in  a 
democracy  ;  he  may  not  have  realized  how,  do  what 
he  might  constitutionally  or  unconstitutionally,  a 
successful  warrior  can  occupy  and  dominate  the 
popular  fancy.  Again,  if  there  was  thought  that 
the  American  people  could  choose  such  a  leader  in 
preference  to  men  of  so  much  more  poise,  refine 
ment  and  true  ability  in  the  management  of  civil 
affairs,  he  may  not  have  reckoned  with  Jackson's 
singularly  unforgiving  heart.  If  he  had  been  in 
formed  beforehand  of  all  these  things,  however,  it 
is  fair  to  think  that  Mr.  Clay's  course  would  have 
been  unchanged.  Not  one  word  did  he  speak  un 
feelingly  and  while  assailing  Jackson  at  some  points, 
with  all  the  vigor  that  can  be  put  into  speech,  it 
was  done  with  so  much  oratorical  grace  as  com 
pared  with  criticisms  passed  in  Congress  by  one 
public  man  upon  another,  at  a  later  day,  that  it 
should  not  have  led  to  that  outburst  of  malignity  on 
the  part  of  Jackson  and  his  friends  which  pursued 
Clay  until  his  death. 

Jackson  had  raised  troops  in  Tennessee  without 
authority  ;  he  entered  Florida,  then  still  belonging 
to  Spain,  to  pursue  Indians  who  from  that  vantage- 
point  raided  settlements  under  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  spring  of  1818  he  captured 
the  Spanish  fort  of  St.  Mark's,  hanged  Indian  chiefs, 
lured  into  his  net  by  methods  outside  the  pale  of 
civilized  warfare  ;  court-martialed  two  British  sub 
jects,  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister,  who  were  found 
with  the  Indians  and  were  accused  of  instigating 
them  to  outrage,  and  shot  them  to  death  ;  seized 
Pensacola,  deposed  the  governor  and  left  an  Ameri- 


98  HENKY  CLAY 

can  garrison  at  the  old  Spanish  post.  Such  high 
handed  proceedings  created  great  amazement,  ex 
cept  among  the  lower  orders  of  men,  always 
"for  their  country,  right  or  wrong,"  especially 
when  the  policy  involved  the  famous  hero  of  New 
Orleans.  The  administration  was  obliged  to  dis 
avow  a  part  at  least  of  Jackson's  performances,  and 
resolutions  appeared  in  Congress  condemning  his 
course.  A  prolonged  debate  ensued  and  on  Jan 
uary  20,  1819,  it  was  known  that  Clay  would  speak. 
He  was  now  the  most  admired  orator  on  Capitol 
Hill.  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison  Smith,  who  heard  this 
speech,  tells  of  the  great  effect  which  it  produced  : 

1  i  When  I  reached  the  Hall,  it  was  so  crowded  that 
it  was  impossible  to  join  my  party.  .  .  .  The 
Senate  had  adjourned  to  hear  Mr.  Clay.  All  the  for 
eign  ministers  and  suites  [and],  many  strangers  were 
admitted  to  the  floor  [who]  in  addition  to  the  mem 
bers  rendered  the  house  crowded.  The  gallery  was 
full  of  ladies,  gentlemen  and  men,  to  a  degree  that 
endangered  it.  Even  the  outer  entries  were  thronged 
and  yet  such  silence  prevailed  that,  though  at  a  con 
siderable  distance,  I  did  not  lose  a  word.  Mr.  Clay 
was  not  only  eloquent  but  amusing  and  more  than 
once  made  the  whole  house  laugh.  .  .  .  To  hear 
the  better  I  had  seated  myself  on  some  steps  quite 
out  of  sight  of  the  house  ;  when  Mr.  Clay  had  fin 
ished,  he  came  into  the  lobby  for  air  and  refresh 
ment.  The  members  crowded  round  him  and  I 
imagine  by  his  countenance  what  they  whispered 
must  have  been  very  agreeable.  When  he  saw  me 
he  came  and  sat  a  few  minutes  on  the  steps  by  me, 
throwing  himself  most  gracefully  into  a  recumbent 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  99 

posture.  I  told  him  I  bad  come  prepared  to  sit  till 
evening  and  was  disappointed  at  his  speech  being 
so  short.  He  said  he  had  intended  to  have  spoken 
longer,  but  his  voice  had  given  out ;  he  had  begun 
too  loud  and  soon  exhausted  himself.  .  .  .  The 
gentlemen  are  grown  very  gallant  and  attentive  and 
as  it  was  impossible  to  reach  the  ladies  through  the 
gallery,  a  new  mode  was  invented  of  supplying  them 
with  oranges,  etc.  They  tied  them  up  in  handker 
chiefs,  to  which  was  fixed  a  note  indicating  for  whom 
it  was  designed,  and  then  fastened  to  a  long  pole. 
This  was  taken  on  the  floor  of  the  House  and  handed 
up  to  the  ladies  who  sat  in  front  of  the  gallery. 
I  imagine  there  were  near  one  hundred  ladies  there 
so  that  these  presentations  were  frequent  and  quite 
amusing,  even  in  the  midst  of  Mr.  Clay's  speech.  I 
and  the  ladies  near  me  were  more  accessible  and 
were  more  than  supplied  with  oranges,  cakes,  etc." 
In  this  notable  address  Mr.  Clay  took  the  gravest 
exception  to  Jackson's  treatment  of  the  Indians. 
He  found  the  causes  of  the  war  in  the  general's 
Treaty  of  1814,  which  he  read  and  which  he  declared 
to  be  "utterly  irreconcilable  with  those  noble  prin 
ciples  of  generosity  and  magnanimity  which  I  hope 
to  see  my  country  always  exhibit,  and  particularly 
toward  the  miserable  remnant  of  the  aborigines." 
Its  terms  were  "hard  and  unconscionable,"  and 
could  not  but  soon  lead  to  "greater  exasperation  and 
more  ferocity  "  on  the  side  of  the  "conquered  party." 
There  was  no  right  ' l  to  practice  under  color  of  re 
taliation  enormities  on  the  Indians."  "This  was 
the  first  instance,"  he  declared,  "in  the  annals  of 
the  country."  Even  when  we  were  weak  and  they 


100  HENRY  CLAY 

were  comparatively  strong  we  did  not  "  destroy 
Indian  captives,  combatants  or  non-combatants" 
and  bring  to  bear  upon  them  "the  bloody  maxims 
of  barbarous  ages."  As  for  the  execution  of  Ar- 
buthnot  and  Anibrister,  a  gentleman  in  the  House 
had  said  that  it  was  only  the  wrong  mode  of  doing 
a  right  thing.  "  In  what  code  of  public  law,"  said 
Clay,  "  in  what  system  of  ethics,  nay,  in  what  re 
spectable  novel,  where  if  the  gentleman  were  to  take 
the  range  of  the  whole  literature  of  the  world  will 
he  find  any  sanction  for  a  principle  so  monstrous?  " 
Such  procedure  clearly  pointed,  he  believed,  to  the 
end  of  free  government.  u  Recall  to  your  recollec 
tion  the  free  nations  which  have  gone  before  us. 
Where  are  they  now  f 

"  'Gone  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were, 
A  schoolboy's  tale,  the  wonder  of  an  hour  !  ' 

And  how  have  they  lost  their  liberties  f  " 

He  eloquently  pointed  to  the  examples  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  the  disasters  which  befell  them  at 
the  hands  of  military  chieftains.  He  spoke  of  Bona 
parte  and  then  said  :  "  I  hope  not  to  be  misunder 
stood  ;  I  am  far  from  intimating  that  General  Jack 
son  cherishes  any  designs  inimical  to  the  liberties  of 
the  country.  I  believe  his  intentions  to  be  pure  and 
patriotic.  I  thank  God  that  he  would  not,  but  I 
thank  Him  still  more  that  he  could  not,  if  he 
would,  overturn  the  liberties  of  the  republic.  .  .  . 
We  are  fighting  a  great  moral  battle  for  the  benefit 
not  only  of  our  country  but  of  all  mankind.  .  . 
Do  you  expect  to  execute  this  high  trust  by  tramp 
ling,  or  -suffering  to  be  trampled  down  law,  justice, 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES          -  401 


the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  the  people!  by 
exhibiting  examples  of  inhumanity,  and  cruelty, 
and  ambition  ?  When  the  minions  of  despotism 
heard  in  Europe  of  the  seizure  of  Pensacola,  how 
did  they  chuckle  and  chide  the  admirers  of  our  in 
stitutions  f  .  .  .  Behold,  said  they,  the  conduct 
of  those  who  are  constantly  reproaching  kings. 
.  .  .  Beware  how  you  give  a  fatal  sanction  in 
this  infant  period  of  our  republic,  scarcely  yet  two 
score  years  old,  to  military  insubordination.  He- 
member  that  Greece  had  her  Alexander,  Eome  her 
Caesar,  England  her  Cromwell,  France  her  Bonaparte 
and  that  if  we  would  escape  the  rock  on  which  they 
split  we  must  avoid  their  errors."1 

It  was  a  brilliant  piece  of  oratory  but  the  House, 
by  majorities  ranging  from  thirty  to  forty-six,  voted 
down  the  various  resolutions  expressive  of  its  disap 
probation  of  Jackson' s  course.  He  was  still  the  hero 
that  he  had  been,  and  indeed  seemed  to  gain  by 
this  attempt,  as  many  esteemed  it,  to  put  him  in  a 
bad  light  before  the  nation  which  he  had  leaped  for 
ward  to  serve. 

A  clear  riddance  of  these  border  troubles  with  the 
Indians,  and  of  the  confusion  of  sovereignty  arising 
from  the  efforts  to  control  them,  could  be  secured 
only  by  the  acquisition  of  Florida,  which  was  soon 
arranged  for  and  brought  before  Congress  for  its 
sanction.  Mr.  Adams's  efforts  were  declared  to 
have  been  successful  only  a  few  weeks  after  Clay 
had  delivered  his  ringing  speech.  The  treaty  ex 
cluded  Texas  from  the  ceded  area.  It  was  approved 
by  the  Senate  but  the  King  of  Spain  was  slow  to 

1  Influenced  undoubtedly  by  memories  of  Patrick  Henry. 


1G2-  HENRY  CLAY 

give  it  his  ratification,  whereupon  many  were  in 
favor  of  taking  forcible  possession  of  Florida.  Mon 
roe  sent  a  message  to  Congress  on  the  subject  on 
March  27,  1820,  and  Clay  entered  the  discussion 
with  a  speech  which  increased  his  renown  at  the 
time,  and  gave  him  the  title  to  a  gift  of  prophecy  in 
later  years.  He  asserted  that  Texas  already  be 
longed  to  the  United  States  as  a  part  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase,  and  accused  the  administration  of  having 
made  a  very  bad  bargain  with  Spain  when  it  had 
agreed  to  surrender  the  claim  to  this  great  territory 
in  return  for  Florida. 

And  this  was  not  all.  Though  he  would  not  give 
Texas  for  Florida  "  in  a  naked  exchange,"  we  were 
bound  by  the  treaty  to  pay  $5,000,000,  claims  upon 
Spain,  amounting  probably  to  three  or  four  times 
that  sum,  and  to  make  other  considerations.  Texas 
he  declared  to  be  " extremely  valuable."  ''The 
climate  was  delicious,  the  soil  fertile ;  the  margins 
of  the  rivers  abounding  in  live  oak  and  the  country 
admitting  of  easy  settlement."  Here  was  a  great 
colony  for  us  ready  at  hand  contiguous  in  area. 
"  The  same  Mississippi  from  whose  rich  deposit  the 
best  of  them  [Louisiana]  had  been  formed,"  he  said, 
11  will  transport  on  her  bosom  the  brave,  the 
patriotic  men  from  her  tributary  streams  to  defend 
and  preserve  the  next  most  valuable,  the  province 
of  Texas."  He  had  no  wish  to  minimize  the  worth 
of  Florida,  though  it  was  "  incomparably  less  "  than 
that  of  Texas.  Moreover,  enclosed  by  Alabama  and 
Georgia,  Florida  could  not  escape,  and  five  or  ten 
years  more  or  less  would  matter  little  to  the  United 
States.  In  this,  too,  did  Clay  fail,  though  he  and 


CONSTRUCTIVE  POLICIES  103 

his  admirers,  when  Texas  must  be  repurchased  for 
a  large  sum  of  money  and  by  a  war,  could  point 
with  some  interest  to  the  policy  which  he  had  un- 
availingly  advocated  twenty-five  years  before.  At 
length  Spain  ratified  the  treaty  and  it  was  pro 
claimed  by  President  Monroe  on  Washington's 
Birthday,  1821. 

Mr.  Clay  again  spoke  as  the  friend  of  struggling 
humanity  on  January  20,  1824,  when  a  resolution 
came  before  the  House  of  Representatives  extending 
sympathy  to  the  Greeks  in  their  revolution  against 
Turkey.  The  war  was  marked  by  great  atrocities, 
and  Daniel  Webster,  who  sat  in  the  House  as  a 
Federalist  from  Massachusetts,  introduced  a  measure 
providing  for  the  recognition  of  Greek  independence 
by  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner.  Here  again 
Clay  followed  the  bent  of  his  impulses,  so  charitably 
awakened,  in  reference  to  the  South  American 
states.  In  this  speech  the  orator  uttered  some  of  his 
most  impassioned  measures.  li  Are  we  so  humbled, 
so  low,  so  debased, "  he  asked,  "that  we  dare  not 
express  our  sympathy  for  suffering  Greece  ;  that  we 
dare  not  articulate  our  detestation  of  the  brutal 
excesses  of  which  she  has  been  the  bleeding  victim 
lest  we  might  offend  some  one  or  more  of  their  im 
perial  and  royal  majesties?  .  .  .  Are  we  so 
mean,  so  base,  so  despicable  that  we  may  not  at 
tempt  to  express  our  horror,  utter  our  indignation 
at  the  most  brutal  and  atrocious  war  that  ever 
stained  earth,  or  shocked  high  heaven?  At  the 
ferocious  deeds  of  a  savage  and  infuriated  soldiery, 
stimulated  and  urged  on  by  the  clergy  of  a  fanatical 
and  inimical  religion  and  rioting  in  all  the  excesses 


104  HENRY  CLAY 

of  blood  and  butchery,  at  the  mere  details  of  which 
the  heart  sickens  and  recoils  ?  " 

As  for  such  action  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
tending  "  to  whet  the  vengeance  of  the  Turk  against 
his  Grecian  victims, ' J  he  did  not  believe  it.  l  <  When 
he  is  made  to  understand,"  said  Mr.  Clay  in  a  burst 
of  eloquence,  "that  the  Executive  of  this  govern 
ment  is  sustained  by  the  representatives  of  the 
people  ;  that  our  entire  political  future,  base,  column 
and  entablature,  rulers  and  people,  with  heart,  soul, 
mind  and  strength  are  all  on  the  side  of  the  gallant 
people  whom  he  would  crush,  he  will  be  more  likely 
to  restrain  than  to  increase  his  atrocities  upon  suffer 
ing  and  bleeding  Greece." 

Some  he  surmised  might  oppose  the  resolution 
because  it  had  been  offered  by  a  Federalist.  "  If 
it  were  possible  for  Eepublicans  to  cease  to  be 
champions  of  human  freedom,"  said  he,  "and  if 
Federalists  become  its  only  supporters,  I  would 
cease  to  be  a  Republican  ;  I  would  become  a  Feder 
alist." 

Though  this  resolution  was  never  acted  upon,  the 
speech  stamped  Clay  as  the  consistent  advocate  of 
suffering  manhood  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  and 
whatever  effect  it  may  have  had  upon  some  minds, 
still  more  strongly  entrenched  him  in  the  affections 
of  his  friends. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  MISSOURI   COMPROMISE 

THE  first  of  that  series  of  compromises  of  the  issue 
between  North  and  South  on  the  slavery  question, 
in  the  management  of  which  Mr.  Clay  played  so 
prominent  a  part,  had  to  do  with  the  admission  of 
Missouri  into  the  Union.  Should  it  be  a  slave 
or  a  free  state  f  Here  Clay  made  a  beginning  as  a 
public  man  in  that  class  of  activity  which  soon 
caused  him  to  be  called  "the  Great  Pacificator." 
His  power  over  the  people  in  all  portions  of  the 
country  was  enormous,  and  this,  joined  to  his  love 
of  the  Union  and  his  parliamentary  finesse,  made 
him  a  leading  influence  in  the  work  of  temporarily 
composing  the  differences  of  the  two  sections.  The 
service  seems  infinitely  less  important  since  the 
Civil  War  than  it  did  before  that  event.  Those 
who  labored  to  avert  the  war  have  had  to  make  way 
in  our  esteem  for  those  who  successfully  directed 
and  prosecuted  it.  It  is  Clay's  fate,  though  he 
struggled  manfully  against  disunion  for  thirty  years, 
to  be  relegated  to  a  far  less  important  place  in  our 
history,  as  it  is  taught  and  understood  by  the  aver 
age  American,  than  is  assigned  to  those  who  have 
gained  our  affections  because  it  was  their  fortune 
to  have  a  hand  in  the  physical  subjugation  of 
slavery,  and  whose  fighting  was  done  upon  the  field 
of  battle. 


106  HENRY  CLAY 

Mr.  Clay's  dislike  of  slavery  could  not  have  been 
else  than  real  and  great.  His  generous  heart,  full 
of  sympathy  for  all  the  downtrodden  and  op 
pressed — South  Americans,  Indians  and  Greeks — 
made  no  exception  of  the  blacks  held  as  bond 
servants  in  the  South.  We  have  seen  that  emanci 
pation  was  one  of  the  first  subjects  to  engage  his 
attention  as  a  young  man  when  he  arrived  in 
Kentucky  from  Virginia,  and  he  said  on  January 
20,  1827,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  in  Washington  :  "  If  I  could 
be  instrumental  in  eradicating  this  deepest  stain 
[slavery]  from  the  character  of  our  country,  and  re 
moving  all  cause  of  reproach  on  account  of  it  by 
foreign  nations  j  if  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in 
ridding  of  this  foul  blot  that  revered  state  that  gave 
me  birth,  or  that  no  less  beloved  state  which  kindly 
adopted  me  as  her  sou,  I  would  not  exchange  the 
proud  satisfaction  which  I  should  enjoy  for  the 
honor  of  all  the  triumphs  ever  decreed  to  the  most 
successful  conqueror.7' 

He  had  started  with  Washington,  Jefferson, 
Madison,  Patrick  Henry  and  the  other  Virginians, 
all  of  whom  at  this  early  day  did  not  attempt  to 
conceal  the  evils  of  slavery.  He  passed  over  to  the 
advocacy  of  the  colonization  movement,  which 
also  claimed  the  sympathy  of  Lincoln,  and  was  in 
deed  at  first  a  favorite  plan  of  Benjamin  Lundy  and 
the  Northern  Abolitionists  themselves.  What  his 
attitude  became  as  the  dispute  waxed  hotter  and 
more  furious  we  shall  later  see.  It  is  enough  at 
this  point  to  know  that  though  he  himself  had  a 
number  of  slaves  at  work  upon  his  estate  near 


THE  MISSOUKI  COMPROMISE         107 

Lexington,  he  sincerely  abominated  the  system  of 
bondage  and  wished  the  country  in  all  its  parts  well 
rid  of  the  evil.  In  his  speech  in  behalf  of  sending 
a  minister  to  South  America  on  May  10,  1820,  Clay 
said  in  the  House  :  u  Will  gentlemen  contend,  be 
cause  these  people  are  not  like  us  in  all  particulars, 
they  are,  therefore,  unfit  for  freedom?"  In  some 
particulars  he  ventured  to  say  that  the  people  of 
South  America  were  in  advance  of  us.  On  the 
point  which  had  been  so  much  discussed  on  the 
floor  during  the  present  session  they  were  greatly 
in  advance  of  us:  "Granada,  Venezuela  and 
Buenos  Ayres  had  all  emancipated  their  slaves." 
The  reference  here  to  the  discussions  of  the 
"present  session"  is  to  the  Missouri  question,  into 
the  settlement  of  which  he  was  injected  in  a  promi 
nent  way.  That  Mr.  Clay  was  not  the  emancipa 
tionist  in  this  contest  is  very  plain,  though  his 
speeches  are  either  not  at  all  or  else  very  incom 
pletely  reported.  Mr.  Schurz  hints  that  there 
was  design  in  this,1  but  the  suggestion  seems  not 
quite  credible.  In  any  event,  much  concerning 
Clay's  attitude  at  this  time  is  left  to  inference,  and 
this  inference  clearly  is  that  he  played  the  part  of 
the  Southern  man.  His  convictions  as  to  the  wrongs 
of  slavery,  however  sincere,  did  not  obtrude  in  these 
debates,  and  it  was  certainly  because  of  his  South 
ern  affiliations  and,  as  it  was  believed  and  stated, 
his  Southern  sympathies,  that  he  was  enabled  to 
exert  his  important  influence  in  pacifying  the  hos 
tile  elements,  and  in  putting  off  the  day  of  reckon 
ing  on  this  great  sectional  issue.  It  was  the  South 

1  Schurz,  Vol.  I,  p.  182. 


108  HENKY  CLAY 

which  always  needed  to  be  appeased  on  this  ques 
tion,  though  it  is  probably  true  that  the  South  at 
this  time  was  more  deeply  attached  to  the  Union 
than  the  North.1  It  is  assumed,  therefore,  that  it 
was  willing  to  give  up  more  for  the  sake  of  the 
Union  than  at  a  later  day. 

However  all  this  may  be,  it  is  plain  that  a  very 
unhappy  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  two  sections  was 
successfully  passed  in  1820-21,  through  the  exer 
tions  of  Henry  Clay.  That  his  course  does  not 
mark  him  as  an  Abolitionist  is  less  important  in 
establishing  his  reputation  as  a  public  man,  at  the 
time  in  which  he  lived,  than  would  have  been  his 
unalterable  antagonism  to  slavery.  At  any  rate, 
he  chose  to  pacify  rather  than  to  disrupt,  which 
would  have  been  the  result,  since  war  between  the 
sections  could  not  have  come  at  this  time.  The 
sections  would  have  separated  in  all  probability 
peacefully.  It  is  the  purpose  of  a  very  large  volume 
which  has  rather  recently  appeared  2  to  show  that 
Henry  Clay  did  not  originate  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  as  is  not  infrequently  assumed,  and  ergo 
that  it  was  not  a  Southern  measure.  It  was,  ac 
cording  to  this  contention,  forced  upon  the  Southern 
people.  They  were  compelled  to  give  open  or  tacit 
assent  to  the  principle  that  the  admission  of  a  state 
might  be  made  contingent  upon  the  denial  of  the 
right  of  a  citizen  to  hold  and  use  slaves,  and  that 
the  national  government  might  restrict  slavery  in 
the  territories.  If  this  can  be  shown,  then,  it  is 

1  Mrs.  Archibald  Dixon,  The  Missouri  Compromise  and  its  Re 
peal,  p.  86. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPEOMISE         109 

argued  that  less  opprobrium  will  attach  to  the 
action  of  those  who  took  part  in  the  repeal  of  the 
Compromise  in  1854. 

It  is  quite  true  that  Mr.  Clay  did  not  originate  the 
measure,  which  became  a  battle-cry  for  North  and 
South  during  the  ensuing  forty  years.  For  some 
time  slaveholders  had  been  emigrating  with  their 
slaves  across  the  Mississippi  River  into  the  country 
there  acquired  by  the  United  States  through  the 
Louisiana  Purchase.  In  1818  Missouri  had  pro 
gressed  so  far  in  wealth  and  population  that  she 
applied  for  admission  as  a  state.  A  bill  authori 
zing  her  to  form  a  constitution  for  her  government 
appeared  in  the  House  on  February  13,  1819,  and 
James  Tallmadge,  a  Eepublican  from  New  York, 
moved  as  an  amendment  that  the  further  enslaving 
of  negroes  should  be  prohibited  in  the  new  state, 
and  that  negro  children  born  into  slavery  should  be 
emancipated  upon  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years.  This  was  the  signal  for  the  great  contest 
over  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  slaveholder, 
and  the  economic  and  moral  aspects  of  his  institu 
tion.  Defiant  speeches  were  indulged  in,  though 
these  seem  to  have  meant  much  less  than  at  a  later 
day,  and  secession  was  spoken  of  nearly  everywhere 
as  though  it  were  an  every-day  right.  The  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Union  was  very  near  at  hand,  if  all  that 
was  said  augured  anything.  On  February  16,  1819, 
three  days  after  its  introduction,  the  House  passed 
the  Missouri  bill  with  the  restriction  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  which,  however,  was  promptly  stricken 
out  by  the  Senate.  The  measure  came  back  to  the 
House  but  it  failed  in  the  Fifteenth  Congress. 


110  HENRY  CLAY 

The  fruit  of  the  session  was  a  bill  organizing  one 
portion  of  the  Mississippi  country  obtained  by  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  into  the  territory  of  Arkansas, 
Clay  speaking  against  the  prohibition  of  slavery 
there  in  emphatic  terms.1 

When  Congress  met  in  December,  1819,  three 
territories  applied  for  admission  to  the  Union  as 
states,  Alabama,  Maine  and  Missouri.  The  plea  of 
the  first  of  these  was  granted  at  once.  It  was  slave 
ground  beyond  peradventure  and  no  one  thought  of 
keeping  it  out  of  the  Union  on  this  account.  It 
was  a  balance  for  Illinois.  Missouri,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  doubtful,  and  it  was  the  Southern  hope 
to  play  it  off  against  Maine,  according  to  the 
system  tacitly  agreed  to  of  adding  a  slave  state  and  a 
free  state  to  the  Union  at  the  same  time,  in  the 
great  work  of  maintaining  the  sectional  equilibrium. 

Many  petitions  were  received,  praying  for  Mis 
souri's  admission,  both  with  and  without  slavery. 
John  W.  Taylor  of  New  York,  afterward  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  was  the  leader  of 
the  free- state  men  in  that  branch  of  Congress. 
Up  to  this  time  no  such  excitement  in  regard  to 
slavery  had  been  known  in  this  country.  On  De 
cember  30th,  Speaker  Clay  said,  on  the  subject  of 
the  admission  of  Maine,  that  he  was  not  prepared 
for  the  question.  He  was  not  opposed  to  this  terri 
tory's  coming  into  the  union,  "  but  before  it  was 
finally  acted  on  he  wished  to  know  whether  certain 
doctrines  of  an  alarming  character, — which  if  per 
severed  in,  no  man  could  tell  where  they  would  end 
— with  respect  to  a  restriction  on  the  admission  of 
1  Annals  of  Congress,  Vol.  II,  p.  1223  et  seq. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         111 

states  west  of  the  Mississippi  were  to  be  sustained 
on  this  floor."  And  he  continued:  "If  beyond 
the  mountains  Congress  can  exert  the  power  of  im 
posing  restrictions  on  new  states,  can  they  not  also 
on  this  side  of  them !  ...  If  the  states  of  the 
West  are  to  be  subject  to  restrictions  by  Congress, 
whilst  the  Atlantic  states  are  free  from  them,  pro 
claim  the  distinction  at  once  ;  announce  your  priv 
ileges  and  immunities.  Let  us  have  a  clear  and 
distinct  understanding  of  what  we  are  to  expect."  1 

Mr.  Clay  made  himself  the  outspoken  advocate  of 
the  unconditional  treatment  of  Missouri.2  "  Equal 
ity,"  he  said,  "is  equity.  If  we  have  no  right  to 
impose  conditions  on  this  state  [Maine]  we  have  none 
to  impose  them  on  the  state  of  Missouri.  .  .  . 
The  doctrine  is  an  alarming  one,  and  I  protest 
against  it  now,  and  whenever  and  wherever  it  may 
be  asserted  .  .  .  that  any  line  of  distinction  is  to 
be  drawn  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  states. ' ' 
He  asserted  that  to  impose  restrictions  upon  Mis 
souri  on  the  subject  of  slavery  was  to  strip  it  "of  an 
essential  attribute  of  sovereignty. "  3 

In  January,  Mr.  Taylor  moved  an  amendment  to 
the  Missouri  bill  prohibiting  slavery,*  and  the  com 
bat  raged  day  by  day  for  several  weeks,  newspaper 
wags  of  the  time  denominating  it  the  "Misery 
[Missouri]  Debate."  On  February  8,  1820,  the 
question  had  gotten  into  so  confused  and  angry  a 
position  that  Mr.  Clay  rose  in  Committee  of  the 
Whole  and  for  nearly  four  hours  addressed  the 
House  against  the  right  and  expediency  of  the  pro- 

1  Annals  of  Congress  for  that  year,  Vol.  I,  pp.  831-832. 
*Ibid.,  pp.  834-835.          •  Ibid.,  p.  842.          4  Ibid.,  p.  947. 


112  HENRY  CLAY 

posed  restriction  upon  Missouri,  of  which  no  more 
is  said  in  the  official  reports  of  the  proceedings.' 
Of  this  doubtless  very  notable  speech  there  is  no 
record  except  in  the  responses  of  those  who  disagreed 
with  Mr.  Clay.  The  remarks  of  a  speaker,  as  they 
are  paraphrased  by  an  opponent  in  a  parliamentary 
debate,  are  an  unfair  basis  for  judgment,  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  did  not  in  this  discussion  dwell  upon 
the  evils  of  slavery  and  make  a  record  for  himself 
as  an  emancipator  of  the  black  man. 

Meanwhile  the  respective  claims  of  Missouri  and 
Maine  to  statehood  were  being  discussed  in  a  similar 
way  in  the  Senate.  As  the  debates  proceeded  it  be 
came  clear  that  the  House  with  its  Northern  ma 
jorities  would  not  agree  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
west  of  the  Mississippi ;  while  the  Senate,  where  the 
balance  of  the  sections  continued  so  much  longer, 
and  where  the  South  found  the  guaranty  of  what  it- 
was  pleased  to  regard  as  its  equal  liberties  in  the 
Union,  would  not  agree  to  admit  Missouri  under 
any  restriction  upon  the  rights  of  the  slaveholder, 
meanwhile  excluding  Maine  altogether.  It  was  at 
length  proposed  by  Senator  Thomas  of  the  new 
state  of  Illinois,  which  had  come  into  the  Union 
in  1818,  that  both  Maine  and  Missouri  should  be 
admitted  :  the  one,  of  course,  without  slavery  ;  the 
other  with  it,  under  the  proviso  that  in  the  terri 
tory  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States  under 
the  name  of  Louisiana,  slavery  should  not  exist 
anywhere,  except  in  Missouri,  north  of  the  line 
36'  30"  north  latitude;  i.  e.,  the  southern  bound 
ary  of  Missouri.  This  measure  passed  the  Senate 
lAnnah,  Vol.  I,  p.  1170. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         113 

by  a  vote  of  thirty-four  to  ten  on  February  17th.1 
The  majority  included  fourteen  Southern  votes. 

When  the  Senate's  solution  of  the  difficulty  reached 
the  House,  it  was  not  favorably  received  by  either 
Southern  or  Northern  members.  Clay  himself  ad 
vised  that  the  prohibition  of  slavery  be  made  a 
"  recommendation  for  Missouri's  free  acceptance  or 
rejection."  2  He  learned  of  a  movement  for  the 
withdrawal  from  Congress  of  the  Southern  members 
in  a  body.  One  evening  John  Randolph  approached 
him,  saying:  "Mr.  Speaker,  I  wish  you  would 
leave  the  chair.  I  will  follow  you  to  Kentucky  or 
anywhere  else  in  the  world."  "That  is  a  very 
serious  proposition  which  we  have  not  now  time  to 
discuss,"  Clay  answered.  "But  if  you  will  come 
into  the  Speaker's  room  to-morrow  morning  before 
the  House  assembles,  we  will  discuss  it  together." 
Clay  himself  expressed  a  fear  that  the  Union,  if  not 
at  once,  in  a  few  years  would  be  split  into  three 
confederacies,  an  eastern,  a  southern  and  a  western.3 

The  congressional  reports  indicate  that  the 
Speaker  was  one  of  the  most  active  in  the  debate, 
yet  his  remarks  are  never  recorded.  At  length,  on 
March  2d,  after  many  votes  had  been  taken,  and  a 
conference  of  representatives  of  the  two  chambers 
had  been  held,  the  House  agreed  to  the  provision  in 
regard  to  the  line  36'  30"  north  latitude  by  a  vote 
of  ninety  to  eighty-seven.  This  result  was  attained 
only  by  some  manipulation,  in  which  we  can  well 
believe  that  Clay  had  an  important  part.  Eighteen 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  Vol.  I,  p.  428. 
1  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  1556. 
3  Sohurz,  Vol.  I,  p.  197. 


114  HENRY  CLAY 

of  these  ninety  votes  came  from  Northern  states 
whose  legislatures  or  citizens  had  solemnly  protested 
against  the  admission  of  Missouri  with  slavery,  and 
John  Randolph  immediately  gave  them  the  immor 
tal  name  of  1 1  dough-faces. ' '  On  March  2d,  on  the 
main  question  of  concurrence,  the  vote  was  134  to 
42.  The  Maine  bill  was  now  slipped  through, 
to  be  signed  by  the  President  at  once.  The  next 
day,  March  3d,  Randolph  moved  a  reconsideration 
of  the  Missouri  question.  Speaker  (May  declared 
the  motion  out  of  order,  and  he  was  sustained  in 
this  opinion  when  the  maker  of  the  motion  appealed 
to  the  House.  The  plea  was  that  the  regular  morn 
ing  business  must  be  disposed  of.  When  Randolph 
found  his  opportunity,  he  renewed  his  activity  only 
to  find  that  while  the  petitions  were  being  presented, 
the  Speaker  had  signed  the  bill  and  had  sent  it  off 
to  the  Senate  by  the  clerk.  As  it  was  no  longer  in 
the  possession  of  the  House,  a  bill  to  reconsider  it 
could  not  be  entertained,  a  course  of  action  whereby 
Randolph  was  greatly  enraged.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  angry  like  Randolph,  though  in  an  oppo 
site  interest,  called  it  "  trickery  and  an  outrage 
upon  the  rules  of  the  House."  l  Thus  the  struggle 
over  Missouri,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  was  at  an 
end,  though  neither  side  enjoyed  the  terms  which 
had  been  obtained,  and  a  difference  which  promised 
to  develop  into  a  great  national  crisis  was — happily 
or  unhappily  as  our  view  may  be — bequeathed  to 
the  future. 

The  Compromise  was  no  sooner  announced  than 
there  was  a  close  scanning  of  the  records  of  the  con- 

1  Memoir*,  Vol.  V,  p.  4. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         115 

gressmeu.  How  had  they  voted  on  this  great  ques 
tion  ?  Many  went  home  to  very  angry  constituencies 
and  the  excitement  during  the  summer  of  1820  was  in 
tense.  The  Missouri aus,  as  if  to  defy  the  fates  which 
had  so  narrowly  favored  them,  now  proceeded  to 
adopt  a  course  indicating  incredibly  little  tact. 
They  proceeded  to  insert  in  their  new  constitution 
provisions  prohibiting  their  legislature  from  ever, 
at  any  time,  putting  a  restraint  upon  slaveholders, 
and  barring  from  the  state  free  negroes  who  might 
desire  to  enter  it  to  make  it  their  home.  Black 
men  were  to  be  slaves  eternally  in  Missouri,  a  most 
unpleasant  subject  of  reflection  for  those  Northern 
people  who  abominated  the  Compromise  even  in  its 
best  form.  Clay  having  suffered  heavy  financial 
misfortune,  through  his  endorsements  for  a  friend, 
felt  himself  compelled  to  withdraw  for  a  time  from 
public  life,  to  devote  himself  to  better  paid  pursuits 
in  Lexington.  He  had  been  Speaker  of  the  House 
ever  since  he  had  entered  it  in  1811,  except  for  the 
absence  abroad  while  negotiating  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent.  He  announced  now,  when  the  Sixteenth 
Congress  convened  for  its  second  session,  that  he 
could  not  be  present  until  after  the  new  year  had 
begun  and  he  begged  therefore  that  his  colleagues 
would  elect  another  presiding  officer.  The  choice 
fell  upon  Mr.  Taylor,  the  anti-slavery  leader  of  New 
York,  and  the  struggle  over  Missouri,  which  had 
broken  out  afresh  as  soon  as  Congress  met,  was  at 
its  height  when  Clay  found  it  convenient  to  return 
to  Washington.  Indeed,  the  news  of  the  situation 
crossing  the  mountains  hastened  his  coming,  and 
there  was  need  at  once  for  all  the  pacificatory  in- 


116  HENKY  CLAY 

fluences  of  which  his  position  and  nature  gave  him 
command. 

The  Missouri  bill  was  entitled,  "  An  act  to  au 
thorize  the  people  of  the  Missouri  Territory  to  form 
a  constitution  and  state  government,  and  for  the 
admission  of  such  state  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  states,  and  to  prohibit 
slavery  in  certain  territories."  It  was  a  mere  u  en 
abling  act  "  which  called  for  further  proceedings 
on  the  part  of  Congress.  It  was  now  the  business 
of  that  body  to  scrutinize  the  frame  of  government 
adopted  by  the  new  state  before  finally  approving 
of  its  admission  to  the  Union,  and  this  work  the 
members  undertook  with  much  advice  from  their 
constituents. 

The  argument  covered  a  wide  field.  It  was  urged 
in  defense  of  the  provision  which  barred  free  negroes 
from  residence  in  Missouri  that  other  states  main 
tained  restrictions  against  them.  In  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire  they  might  not  bear  arms.  In 
Ehode  Island  if  a  negro  were  caught  out-of-doors  at 
night  after  nine  o'clock  he  was  to  be  publicly 
whipped  by  a  constable.  "No  negro  except  a 
subject  of  the  Emperor  of  Morocco  or  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States"  could  remain  in  Massachusetts 
longer  than  two  months.  Being  then  told  to  go  he 
was  in  ten  days  entitled  to  a  public  whipping. 
Even  white  persons  who  were  strangers  in  a  neigh 
borhood  could  be  fined,  imprisoned  and  whipped  in 
New  York  and  some  other  Northern  states,  if  lin 
gering  within  its  borders,  they  promised  to  become 
public  charges. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Eaton  of  Tennessee  offered  an 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         117 

amendment  to  the  resolution,  declaring  Missouri  a 
state  of  the  Union  u  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  states,"  in  terms  as  follows:  "  Provided 
that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  so  construed 
as  to  give  the  assent  of  Congress  to  any  provision  in 
the  Constitution  of  Missouri,  if  any  such  there  be, 
which  contravenes  that  clause  in  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  which  declares  that  l  the  citizens 
of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  privileges 
and  immunities  of  the  citizens  in  the  several 
states.'  "  l 

The  resolution  with  the  Eaton  proviso  finally 
passed  the  Senate  on  December  12,  1820,  by  a  vote 
of  twenty -six  to  eighteen,  and  was  sent  to  the  House 
for  its  concurrence.  There  the  discussion  did  not 
await  the  action  of  the  Senate ;  it  was  already  far 
advanced  in  acrimony.  On  December  13th  a  House 
measure  to  admit  Missouri  was  rejected  by  a  major 
ity  of  fourteen,  amid  intense  excitement.  The  vote 
was  ninety-three  to  seventy-nine.  "  The  Missouri 
question  is  the  most  portentous  that  ever  threatened 
the  Union,"  said  the  aged  Thomas  Jefferson  at 
"  Monticello."  "  In  the  gloomiest  moments  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  I  never  had  any  apprehension 
equal  to  that  I  feel  from  this  source." 

On  January  16,  1821,  the  journal  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  House  announces  :  u  Another  member, 
to  wit  from  Kentucky,  Henry  Clay,  appeared  and 
took  his  seat."  *  His  coining  had  been  awaited  with 
more  anxiety  than  these  few  words  would  indicate. 
In  and  out  of  Congress  it  was  believed  that  he  would 
find  some  method  of  applying  balm  to  the  gaping 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  p.  41.  *  Ibid.,  p.  872. 


118  HENRY  CLAY 

wound.  Hopelessness  was  written  on  the  faces  of 
Southern  and  Northern  men.  The  House  continued 
its  wrangling  over  the  question  always  with  the 
same  general  outcome.  One  statistician  computes 
that  it  had  now  voted  just  seventeen  times  against 
the  admission  of  Missouri.1  On  the  24th  of  Jan 
uary,  a  resolution  of  Mr.  Eustis  of  Massachusetts 
having  been  rejected,  "  after  a  pause,  Mr.  Clay 
rose  and  gave  notice  that  if  no  other  gentleman 
made  a  motion  on  the  subject,  he  should,  on  the  day 
after  to-morrow,  move  to  go  into  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union,  to  take  into  con 
sideration  the  resolution  from  the  Senate  on  the  sub 
ject  of  Missouri."  a  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
movement  which  under  Clay's  skilful  management 
brought  the  unhappy  impasse  to  an  end.  He  was 
not  ready  with  the  motion  until  the  29th,  where 
upon  the  Eaton  resolution  to  admit  Missouri  with 
the  caveat  against  the  provision  in  its  constitution, 
if  there  were  any,  which  conflicted  with  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  was  taken  up.  Clay 
himself,  Randolph  and  others  spoke  on  the  ques 
tion.  Many  and  various  amendments  were  pro 
posed  during  the  next  few  days.  Absolutely  no 
basis  of  agreement  was  discoverable,  although 
Clay  used  his  conciliatory  influences  in  favor  of 
most  of  the  proposals,  and  exhibited  a  temper  indi 
cating  that  he  himself  would  be  willing  to  accept 
almost  any  plan  which  promised  to  bring  about  a 
harmonious  understanding. 

On    February   2d,  seeing    no  other  open  course 

1  Mrs.  Dixon,  Missouri  Compromise,  p.  103. 
*  Annals  of  Congress,  p.  944. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPEOMISE         119 

and  1 1  anxious  to  make  a  last  effort  to  settle  the  dis- 
tracting  question/' l  he  moved  to  refer  the  resolu 
tion  of  the  Senate  to  a  committee  of  thirteen  mem 
bers,  one  for  each  of  the  original  states,  of  which  he 
was  made  the  chairman.  It  included  such  leadens 
as  Eustis  of  Massachusetts,  John  Sergeant  of  Penn 
sylvania,  Lowndes  of  South  Carolina,  Cobb  of 
Georgia  and  Campbell  of  Ohio.  Five  members 
came  from  Southern,  and  eight  from  Northern 
states.  On  February  10th  the  committee  reported 
great  diversity  of  opinion  in  its  own  membership, 
but  in  order  to  attain,  if  possible,  an  amicable  ad 
justment  of  the  difficulty,  it  proposed  an  amend 
ment  to  the  resolution  of  the  Senate?^  This  was  61"  *«» 
considerable  length  and  instead  of  the  Eaton  proviso, 
contained  a  stipulation  that  the  state  should  be  ad 
mitted  1 1  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states 
in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the  fundamental  con 
dition  that  the  said  state  shall  never  pass  any  laws, 
preventing  any  description  of  persons  from  coming 
to  and  settling  in  the  said  state,  who  are -now,  or 
hereafter  may  become  citizens  of  any  of  the  states 
of  this  Union  ;  and  provided  also  that  the  legislature 
of  the  said  state,  by  a  solemn  public  act,  shall  de 
clare  the  assent  of  the  said  state  to  the  said  funda 
mental  condition,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  on  or  before  the  4th  day 
of  November  next,  an  authentic  copy  of  the  said 
act,  upon  the  receipt  whereof,  the  President,  by 
proclamation,  shall  announce  the  fact ;  whereupon, 
and  without  any  further  proceeding  on  the  part  of 
Congress,  the  admission  of  the  said  state  into  the 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  p.  1027. 


120  HENRY  CLAY 

Union  shall  be  considered  complete  :  And  provided 
further,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  con 
strued  to  take  from  the  said  state  of  Missouri,  when 
admitted  into  this  Union,  the  exercise  of  any  right 
or  power  which  can  now  be  constitutionally  exer 
cised  by  any  of  the  original  states."  ' 

The  hope  was  expressed  by  the  committee  (its 
chairman,  if  all  signs  do  not  fail,  voicing  its  opinion 
in  the  report)  that  its  plan  would  be  received  in  the 
spirit  in  which  it  had  been  devised.  The  belief 
was  entertained  that  "all  must  ardently  unite  in 
wishing  an  amicable  termination  of  a  question 
which,  if  it  be  longer  kept  open,  cannot  fail  to  pro 
duce,  and  possibly  to  perpetuate,  prejudices  and 
animosities  among  a  people  to  whom  the  conserva 
tion  of  their  moral  ties  should  be  even  dearer,  if 
possible,  than  that  of  their  political  bond."  2 

Amid  much  confusion,  the  amendment  which 
Mr.  Clay's  committee  had  proposed  was  defeated 
by  a  small  majority,  the  twenty-fourth  time  the 
House  had  refused  admission  to  Missouri  with  the 
slavery  provisions  in  her  constitution.3  On  Feb 
ruary  13th  it  was  determined  to  reconsider  the  vote. 
In  a  speech  upon  this  motion  Mr.  Clark  of  New 
York  pertinently  said  :  ' '  The  course  pursued  by 
this  House  on  this  subject  is  (to  say  the  least  of  it) 
most  extraordinary.  You  will  neither  dismiss  it 
nor  decide  on  it,  but  you  cling  to  this  firebrand  of 
discord  with  the  utmost  pertinacity  without  inti 
mating  what  your  ultimate  object  is."  Mr.  Clay 
spoke  for  an  hour,  urging  and  entreating  the  House 

1  Annals  of  Congrem,  p.  1080.  8  Ibid. 

3  Mrs.  Dixon,  Missouri  Compromise,  p.  110. 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         121 

to  pass  the  resolution,  but  it  declined  by  a  vote  of 
eighty-eight  to  eighty-two,  Randolph  and  a  few 
radical  Southerners  cooperating  with  the  Northern 
ers  in  the  hope  of  defeating  the  scheme  with  motives 
very  different  from  those  which  actuated  the  and- 
slavery  men. 

Meanwhile  the  votes  for  President  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  were  to  be  counted  and  a  grave  dispute  arose 
as  to  whether  or  not  Missouri,  which  had  chosen 
electors,  should  participate  in  the  election.  An 
other  special  committee  was  appointed,  with  Clay 
as  chairman,  to  confer  with  a  committee  of  the  Sen 
ate  as  to  the  method  to  be  pursued.  Continuing 
his  conciliatory  counsel,  since,  whether  Missouri's 
vote  for  James  Monroe  were  or  were  not  counted 
would  not  affect  the  result,  he  advised  a  hypothet 
ical  statement  in  the  sense  that  if  that  state's  votes 

were  counted  A.  B.  would  receive votes,  if 

not  counted votes.  This  method  was  finally 

adopted,  although  there  was  almost  unheard-of  ex 
citement  at  some  points  in  the  proceedings. 

A  week  later,  on  February  21st,  Mr.  Clay's  col 
league,  William  Brown  of  Kentucky,  offered  a  reso 
lution  providing  for  the  repeal  of  that  feature  of  the 
Missouri  bill  of  March  6,  1820,  which  placed  a  re 
striction  upon  slaveholding  in  any  part  of  the 
Louisiana  Territory.  He  supported  it  in  a  speech 
in  which  he  explained  that  he  did  not  advocate  this 
course  because  of  any  conference  with  his  "  friend 
and  messmate"  Henry  Clay,  who  knew  nothing 
of  his  design.  "  My  colleague,"  he  was  at  pains  to 
explain,  "  who  has  labored  arduously  and  zealously 
to  settle  this  question  and  trauquilize  the  Union,  is 


122  HENBY  CLAY 

not  willing  yet  to  despair  j  he  indulges  the  hop« 
that  something  may  still  be  done."  The  very  pos 
sibility  of  a  serious  movement  of  this  kind,  however, 
put  the  matter  in  a  new  light  before  the  Northern 
members.  If  the  South  were  to  go  back  and  propose 
the  repeal  of  the  "  Compromise  "  feature  of  the  law, 
what  might  not  be  expected  from  that  section  t  Of 
course,  the  Brown  resolution  did  not  pass,  but  the 
question  in  hand  was  materially  advanced.  The 
next  day  Clay  proposed  the  appointment  of  a  com 
mittee  of  the  House  to  meet  with  a  committee  of  the 
Senate  jointly  to  devise  and  propose  a  basis  of 
settlement.  This  motion  was  passed  by  a  vote  of 
101  to  55.  A  committee  of  twenty-three  members, 
elected  by  ballot,  one  for  each  of  the  states  though 
not  from  each  of  the  states  (for  New  York  as  well 
as  Pennsylvania  had  no  less  than  four  members) 
met  with  seven  senators,  and  the  joint  committee, 
through  Clay,  reported  to  the  House  on  February 
26th  the  following  resolution  : 


"  Eesolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eepre- 
sentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Con 
gress  assembled,  that  Missouri  shall  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
states  in  all  respects  whatever,  upon  the  fundamental 
condition  that  the  4th  clause  of  the  26th  section 
of  the  3d  article  of  the  Constitution,  submitted  on 
the  part  of  said  state  to  Congress,  shall  never  be 
construed  to  authorize  the  passage  of  any  law,  and 
that  no  law  shall  be  passed  in 'conformity  thereto, 
by  which  any  citizen  of  either  of  the  states  in  this 
Union  shall  be  excluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  any 
of  the  privileges  and  immunities  to  which  such 
citizen  is  entitled  under  the  Constitution  of  the 


THE  MISSOURI  COMPROMISE         123 

United  States  :  Provided  that  the  legislature  of 
said  state  by  a  solemn  public  act,  shall  declare  the 
assent  of  the  said  state  to  the  said  fundamental 
condition,  and  shall  transmit  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  on  or  before  the  fourth  Monday  in 
November  next,  an  authentic  copy  of  said  act ;  upon 
the  receipt  whereof,  the  President,  by  proclamation, 
shall  announce  the  fact ;  whereupon,  and  without 
further  proceedings  on  the  part  of  Congress  the 
admission  of  the  said  state  into  the  Union  shall  be 
considered  as  complete. "  l 

In  the  work  of  securing  a  favorable  vote  upon 
this  resolution,  Clay  neglected  no  resource  both  on 
and  off  the  floors  of  Congress.  On  one  occasion  at 
an  evening  sitting  after  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Taylor,  had 
twice  declared  motions  of  Mr.  Clay  out  of  order  and 
in  violation  of  the  rules  for  the  procedure  of  the 
House,  the  great  Kentucky  leader  rose  and  pitching 
his  voice  even  beyond  its  highest  wont  exclaimed  : 
"Then  I  move  to  suspend  all  the  rules  of  the 
House.  Away  with  them !  Is  it  to  be  endured 
that  we  shall  be  trammeled  in  our  action  by  mere 
forms  and  technicalities  at  a  moment  like  this, 
when  the  peace  and  perhaps  the  existence  of  the 
Union  is  at  stake  !  "  One  of  Mr.  Clay's  friends  then 
present  has  said  that  he  carried  his  point  by 
storm.2 

Nor  did  he  fail  to  use  his  persuasive  powers  upon 
individual  members  of  Congress.  Even  those  who 
were  not  his  friends  could  speak  of  "  the  winning, 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  p.  1228. 

2 John  J.  Crittenden's  8peech  at  Louisville  on  the  "Life  and 
Death  of  Henry  Clay,"  September  29,  1852;  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp'a  Memoir,  p.  8. 


124  HENRY  CLAY 

courtly  Mr.  Clay/' !  He  reasoned,  he  appealed  to 
the  emotions,  he  remonstrated  and  urged — in  short, 
he  neglected  nothing  which  promised  to  help  him 
in  gaining  the  end  in  view.  He  predicted  that 
failure  to  come  to  some  agreement  would  break  up 
existing  party  relations  and  lead  to  new  combina 
tions,  with  results  that  none  could  foretell. 

The  House  passed  the  resolution  of  the  joint  com 
mittee  by  a  vote  of  eighty-six  to  eighty-two,  on  the 
final  vote  eighty-seven  to  eighty-one,  and  two  days 
later,  on  February  28th,  the  Senate  approved  it 
with  twenty-eight  yeas  and  fourteen  nays.  Thus 
the  first  great  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  slavery 
question  in  this  country  was  met ;  thus  was  Henry 
Clay  reinstated  in  the  esteem  of  many  elements 
which  had  come  to  question  his  good  motives  by 
reason  of  his  opposition  to  the  policies  of  President 
Monroe.  "  The  greatest  result  of  this  conflict  of 
three  sessions,"  wrote  John  Quiucy  Adams,  while 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  victory  was  fresh  in  his  mind 
though  he  had  so  lately  complained  of  the  "preg 
nant  evidences'7  of  the  Kentucky  leader's  "over 
bearing"  attitude,2  was  "to  bring  into  full  display 
the  talents  and  resources  of  influence  of  Mr.  Clay." 

1Wm.  Winston  Seaton,  A  Biographical  Sketch,  p.  159. 

2  Vol.  V,  p.  278.  *Ibid.,  p.  307. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   ELECTION   OF   1824 

As  though  it  were  his  principal  title  to  a  reputa 
tion,  it  is  iterated  and  reiterated  of  Henry  Clay  that 
he  was  a  disappointed  seeker  for  the  presidency. 
The  average  man  and  woman  of  this  generation  will 
cherish  this  impression,  if  they  lack  all  others  in  re 
gard  to  him.  The  long  series  of  misfortunes  attend 
ing  him  in  the  effort  to  realize  this  ambition  began 
in  1824.  James  Monroe's  two  terms  were  coming 
to  their  end  ;  the  "  Virginia  dynasty  "  would  pass 
into  history  and  the  new  impulses  introduced  into 
political  life  by  the  War  of  1812  in  the  persons  of 
Clay,  Calhoun  and,  as  it  seemed,  too,  of  Jackson, 
who  awakened  the  military  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  and  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  fit  candidate 
for  the  presidency  on  this  account,  made  the  ap 
proaching  campaign  a  memorable  one. 

Mr.  Clay  was  not  a  member  of  the  Seventeenth 
Congress.  When  he  returned  to  Lexington  at  the 
end  of  the  short  session  in  March,  1821,  it  was  to 
continue  the  work  of  straightening  out  his  private 
affairs  which  he  had  begun  during  the  previous 
summer.  He  was  counsel  for  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  in  Ohio  and  Kentucky  at  a  remunera 
tive  salary,  and  industriously  devoted  himself  to 
the  practice  of  the  law  and  to  the  management  of 
his  interests  at  "  Ashland. "  At  about  this  time 


126  HENRY  CLAY 

Kentucky  was  undergoing  much  excitement  on  the 
subject  of  paper  money.  Unsound  views  regarding 
the  currency  were  everywhere  prevalent,  and  Clay, 
presidential  candidate  though  he  was  supposed  to 
be,  firmly  upheld  the  unpopular  side  in  this  con 
troversy.  He  defended  sound  financial  principles 
at  every  opportunity,  but  was  not  long  to  be  left  at 
home  in  a  field  so  limited  in  usefulness.  The 
Lexington  or  "  Ashland  District,"  returned  him  to 
the  Congress  which  met  in  December,  1823. 

During  the  summer  of  that  year  Mr.  Clay  was 
very  ill,  his  state  of  health  being  ascribed  to  his 
close  application  to  business.  He  repaired  to  the 
Olympian  Springs  in  Kentucky,  and,  because  of 
his  failure  to  improve  under  the  regimen  there, 
seriously  contemplated  spending  the  ensuing  winter 
in  the  South.  He  was  disinclined  to  absent  himself 
from  Congress,  however,  and  set  out  betimes  with  a 
light  carriage  and  a  saddle  horse  on  his  way  to 
Washington.  Driving,  riding  and  walking  by 
turns,  he  reached  the  capital,  by  easy  stages,  very 
much  benefited  by  the  journey.  He  was,  as  a  mat 
ter  of  course,  with  scarcely  any  opposition,  returned 
to  his  place  in  the  Speaker's  chair,  which  he  had 
graced  for  so  many  years. 

Almost  his  first  act  upon  resuming  his  seat  in  the 
House  was  in  line  with  his  attitude  in  Kentucky  on 
the  money  question.  His  course  was  an  effective 
rejoinder  to  any  charge  affecting  his  sincerity  or 
courage  in  public  life.  He  actively  opposed  a  bill 
to  grant  a  pension  to  the  mother  of  Commodore 
Perry.  Though  every  popularity-seeking  speaker 
in  Congress  was  eager  to  array  himself  on  the  side 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  127 

of  the  needy  old  lady,  Clay  declared  quite  posi 
tively,  and  not  imavailingly,  that  he  could  not 
favor  the  claim.  The  hero  of  Lake  Erie  had  not 
died  of  injuries  received  in  the  service  of  his  coun 
try.  The  government  had  already  gone  quite  far 
enough  in  making  provision  for  his  widow  and 
children,  and  there  must  be  some  limit  to  the  atten 
tion  bestowed  upon  military  and  naval  characters  at 
the  expense  of  men  who  were  quite  as  serviceable  to 
the  republic.  "  Shall  we  select  the  families  of 
those  who  wore  epaulettes  on  their  shoulders,"  he 
asked  pertinently,  "  whilst  we  leave  to  pine  in 
penury  the  families  of  those  who  have  spent  their 
lives  in  civil  service? "  l 

Clay's  principal  claim  upon  the  attention  of  the 
country  as  a  presidential  candidate,  aside  from  his 
recent  conspicuous  part  in  bringing  about  an  ac 
commodation  on  the  Missouri  question,  was  the 
determination  with  which  he  pressed  his  internal 
improvement  and  protective  tariff  policies.  Al 
though  still  in  ill  health,  he  took  the  most  active 
part  in  the  discussions  of  the  House.  President 
Monroe  persisted  in  his  view  that  it  was  no  proper 
function  of  the  Federal  government  under  the  Con 
stitution  to  build  roads  and  canals.  Clay  abated 
nothing  of  his  faith,  and  in  January,  1824,  a  bill 
appeared  in  the  House  authorizing  the  President  to 
direct  the  making  of  surveys  for  a  system  of  interior 
highways,  in  order  to  forward  postal,  commercial 
and  military  communication.  The  sum  of  $30,000 
was  set  aside  for  this  purpose. 

Clay  entered  the  debate  with  all  the  gay  spirit  of 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  Vol.  I,  p.  982. 


128  HENBY  CLAY 

his  nature.  For  some  time  he  had  been  preparing  a 
statement  of  his  views  which  he  offered  to  the 
House  on  February  14th.1  A.  member  had  said  that 
the  Constitution  contemplated  the  exercise  of  all 
"municipal"  functions  by  the  states.  Mr.  Clay 
replied  that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  caru  Is 
connecting  the  waters  of  the  Delaware  and  t'je 
Chesapeake  and  to  unite  the  Ohio  and  the  Potonuj  <•., 
the  Cumberland  Eoad,  and  other  enterprises  whi<-h 
he  mentioned,  were  matters  that  no  state  or  states 
would  ever  be  likely  to  forward  to  definite  em  s. 
The  powers  of  both  governments,  national  and  stal  e, 
were  undoubtedly  municipal,  often  operating  upon 
the  same  subject.  To  him,  he  said,  that  "to 
establish  post-roads"  meant  "to  fix,  to  make  firm, 
to  build,"  and  he  would  appeal  for  support  "  to 
any  vocabulary  whatever  of  respectable  authority." 
From  this  "  express  grant  "  he  passed  to  the  in 
ferential  one  in  reference  to  canals,  which  he  traced 
to  the  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  commerce  wivh 
foreign  nations  and  among  the  several  states.  He 
railed  at  members  who  would  support  bills  appro 
priating  money  for  docks  and  lighthouses  on  the 
seacoast  to  help  the  foreign  trade,  and  would  do 
nothing  for  domestic  trade.  He  put  it  to  the 
candor  of  his  opponents  "  whether  the  only  differ 
ence  is  not  that  which  springs  from  the  nature  of 
the  two  elements  on  which  the  two  species  of  com 
merce  are  conducted — the  difference  between  lai.d 
and  water."  "The  principle,"  he  said,  "is  the 
same  whether  you  promote  commerce  by  opening 
for  it  an  artificial  channel  where  now  there  is  none, 
1  Annah  of  Congress,  Vol.  I,  p.  1022. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  129 

or  by  increasing  the  ease  and  safety  with  which  it- 
may  be  conducted  through  a  natural  channel,  which 
the  bounty  of  Providence  has  bestowed.  In  the  one 
case  your  object  is  to  facilitate  arrival  and  departure 
from  the  ocean  to  the  land.  In  the  other,  it  is  to 
accomplish  the  same  object  from,  the  laud  to  the 
ocean. " 

It  was  also  very  clear  to  Mr.  Clay  that  roads  and 
canals  might  be  built  by  the  nation  for  military 
uses.  '  *  These, ' '  he  said  with  great  truth,  '  *  are  in  the 
nature  of  fortifications  since,  if  not  the  depositories 
of  military  resources,  they  enable  you  to  bring  into 
rapid  action  the  military  resources  of  the  country, 
wherever  they  may  be.  They  are  better  than  any 
fortifications,  because  they  serve  the  double  purpose 
of  peace  and  war.  They  dispense,  in  a  great  degree, 
with  fortifications,  since  they  have  all  the  effect  of 
that  concentration  at  which  fortifications  aim." 

As  was  his  wont,  he  made  the  cause  of  the  West  his 
own,  and  voiced  the  hopes  and  ambitions  of  his 
people,  as  it  was  common  to  call  them,  and  as  they 
truly  were  in  many  respects.  It  would  be  impossi 
ble,  he  said,  u  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the  West 
from  this  government.  .  .  .  You  may  impover 
ish  them,  reduce  them  to  ruin  by  the  mistakes  of 
your  policy  and  you  cannot  drive  them  from  you." 
They  had  received  little  enough— only  the  Cumber 
land  Eoad  which  stopped  at  Wheeling,  on  the 
"  mere  margin  of  a  Western  state,"  though  he  had 
"  toiled,"  until  his  powers  had  been  "  exhausted 
and  prostrated,"  to  prevail  upon  Congress  to  com 
plete  this  highway,  that  they  might  have  the  means 
to  reach  the  capital  of  their  country.  The  govern- 


130  HENRY  CLAY 

merit  was  to  last,  he  hoped,  "  forever  " — at  any  rate 
"  until  the  wave  of  population,  cultivation  and  in 
telligence  shall  have  washed  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  mingled  with  the  Pacific."  Canals  and  roads 
were  but  a  part  of  the  "  improvements  and  comforts 
of  social  life "  which  he  wished  might  spread 
"  over  the  wide  surface  of  this  vast  continent." 

It  was  in  this  discussion  that  another  famous  pas 
sage  occurred  with  John  Randolph.  In  an  ex 
tremely  ill-mannered  though  able  discourse,  the 
Virginian  turned  his  attention  to  Mr.  Clay's  defini 
tion  of  the  word  "  establish  "  as  it  was  used  in  the 
Constitution.  Words  he  called  "the  counters  of 
wise  men,  the  money  of  fools,"  and  predicted  that 
by  the  use  of  them  the  people  would  yet  be  cajoled 
out  of  their  rights  and  liberties.  There  never  had 
been  such  violation  of  language  by  liberal  construc 
tion  "  since  the  days  of  that  unfortunate  man  of  the 
German  coast,  whose  name  was  originally  Fyerstein, 
anglicized  to  Firestone,  but  got  by  translation  from 
that  to  Flint,  from  Flint  to  Pierre-a  Fusil  and  from 
Pierre-a-Fusil  to  Peter  Gun."  l  No  one  knew  what 
"a  mass  of  criminality"  may  not  have  been  in 
curred  because  "never  till  now  had  our  people  a 
preceptor  learned  enough  to  instruct  them  in  the 
meaning  of  the  word  '  establish.'  ' 

Mr.  Clay  rose  to  reply,  evidencing  his  affront  at 
Randolph's  language  and  maim  or.  He  believed 
that  his  situation  in  health,  leading  to  magnanimity 
in  some  quarters  of  the  House,  would  have  induced 
a  "generous  heart"  to  desist  from  efforts  to  draw 
him  into  a  "personal  altercation."  He  made  no 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  Vol.  I,  p.  1296. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  131 

pretensions  as  a  "  preceptor."  "I  know  my  defi 
ciencies,"  Mr.  Clay  continued.  "I  was  born  to  no 
proud  patrimonial  estate  $  from  my  father  I  inher 
ited  only  ^ip^ncy, .,  ignorance  and  indigence  ;  " 
whereupon  Eandolpn  leaned  over  to  a  friend,  and 
remarked  that  the  Speaker  should  have  continued 
the  alliteration  and  added  "  insolence."  l  "I  fed 
my  defects,"  Clay  continued,  "  but  so  far  as  my 
situation  in  early  life  is  concerned,  I  may,  without 
presumption,  say,  they  are  more  my  misfortune 
than  niy  fault."  Thus  did  the  relations  between 
these  two  men  grow  more  unfriendly,  leading  at 
length  to  an  encounter  which  Clay  in  his  calmer  years 
regarded  with  much  disfavor  and  self-reproach. 

The  bill  authorizing  the  Federal  surveys  that 
this  "Western  Hotspur,"  as  some  of  his  foes  delighted 
to  call  him,  so  ably  advocated,  passed  the  House  by 
a  vote  of  ninety  to  seventy-five,  and  being  approved 
by  the  Senate,  was  signed  by  the  President  on  some 
inconsistent  excuse.  Fruitless  though  it  was,  it 
marked  an  impressive  advance  in  the  development 
of  our  constitutional  doctrine. 

The  tariff  of  1816,  in  the  adoption  of  which  he 
had  had  the  aid  of  Calhoun  and  the  South,  was  soon 
adjudged  by  Clay  and  the  protectionists  of  the  Cen 
tral  and  Western  states  to  be  too  low.  A  little 
usually  calls  rather  loudly  for  more  protection, 
and  the  measure  which  was  enacted  in  1816  was 
really  a  mild  fillip  to  domestic  industries  in  com 
parison  with  many  of  the  later  American  tariffs. 
An  artificial  prosperity  had  followed  the  war,  and 
times  were  still  far  from  what  they  should  have  been 
'Win.  Winston  Seaton,  p.  152. 


132  HENEY  CLAY 

in  the  view  of  many  interests.  In  1818  the  duty  on 
iron  was  increased,  and  in  1820  Clay,  in  a  long  and 
impressive  speech  in  the  House,  advocated  a  general 
revision  of  the  law.1  Though  it  passed  that  branch 
of  Congress  largely  through  his  influence,  it  failed 
in  the  Senate  by  a  single  vote,  and  it  was  still  before 
the  country  in  1824  upon  his  return  to  active  par 
liamentary  life. 

It  was  in  this  debate  that  Clay  christened  his 
policy  the  "  American  system,"  a  name  which  it 
continued  to  bear  to  its  very  great  advantage  for 
many  years.  His  important  speech  on  this  subject 
was  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  March 
30th  and  31st ;  he  spoke  for  four  and  one- half  hours 
on  the  30th  and  concluded  on  the  following  day. 
a  The  object  of  the  bill  under  consideration,"  he 
said  at  one  point,  "is  to  create  this  home  market 
and  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  genuine  American 
policy."  "  Is  there  no  remedy  within  the  reach  of 
the  government1? "  he  said  again,  after  depicting  the 
country's  ills.  "  Are  we  doomed  to  behold  our  in 
dustry  languish  and  decay  yet  more  and  more  ?  But 
there  is  a  remedy  and  that  remedy  consists  in  mod 
ifying  our  foreign  policy,  and  in  adopting  a  genuine 
American  system." 

It  was  true,  as  was  remarked  the  following  day 
by  Webster,  who  sympathized  with  the  New  Eng- 
landers  who  were  still  free-traders,  in  defense,  as 
they  believed,  of  their  shipping  trade,  that  the 
"American  system"  was  misnamed,  but  this  did 
riot  at  all  matter.  "  Since  Mr.  Speaker  denominates 
the  policy  which  he  recommends  l  a  new  policy  in 
1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  218. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  133 

this  country,'  "  said  Webster,  with  some  reason ; 
* (  since  he  speaks  of  the  present  measure  as  a  new 
era  in  our  legislation  ;  since  he  professes  to  invite 
us  to  depart  from  our  accustomed  course,  to  instruct 
ourselves  by  the  wisdom  of  others,  and  to  adopt  the 
policy  of  the  most  distinguished  foreign  states,— 
one  is  a  little  anxious  to  know  with  what  propriety 
of  speech  this  imitation  of  other  nations  is  denomi 
nated  an  '  American  policy,'  while  on  the  contrary 
a  preference  for  our  own  established  system,  as  it 
now  actually  exists  and  always  has  existed,  is  called 
a  l  foreign  policy.'  This  favorite  American  policy 
is  what  America  has  never  tried ;  and  this  odious 
foreign  policy  is  what,  as  we  are  told,  foreign  states 
have  never  pursued." 

That  Mr.  Clay's  argument  at  all  points  did  not 
betray  complete  mastery  of  the  principles  of  polit 
ical  economy  need  occasion  no  very  great  surprise. 
He  was  not  a  profound  student  of  that  subject.  He 
expressed  himself  as  under  some  obligations  to 
Mathew  Carey,  who  was  industriously  propagating 
protectionist  theories  in  Philadelphia.  He  had  a 
mass  of  information  in  hand  bearing  upon  the  in 
dustrial  condition  of  the  country,  most  of  which  was 
entirely  reliable,  and  arraying  all  this  in  order,  and 
ornamenting  it  for  oratorical  use,  it  became  very 
effective  in  a  legislative  chamber.  It  is  easy  to  find 
the  flaws  in  his  line  of  reasoning,  and  some  are  much 
too  obvious  ;  but  in  general  it  reflected  credit  upon 
his  learning,  and  greatly  increased  his  reputation 
for  sincerity  of  heart.  In  the  main  an  argumenta 
tive  discourse,  flowers  of  speech  were  not  entirely 
eschewed,  as  when  he  said  : 


HENKY  CLAY 

"The  difference  betwecu  a  nation  with  and  with 
out  the  arts  may  be  conceived  by  the  difference  be 
tween  a  keel-boat  and  a  steamboat  combating  the 
rapid  torrent  of  the  Mississippi.  How  slow  does 
the  former  ascend,  hugging  the  sinuosities  of  the 
shore,  pushed  on  by  her  hardy  and  exposed  crew, 
now  throwing  themselves  in  vigorous  concert  on 
their  oars  and  then  seizing  the  pendant  boughs  of 
overhanging  trees  :  she  seems  hardly  to  move  ;  and 
her  scanty  cargo  is  scarcely  worth  the  transporta 
tion  !  With  what  ease  is  she  not  passed  by  the 
steamboat,  laden  with  the  riches  of  all  quarters  of 
the  world,  with  a  crew  of  gay,  cheerful  and  pro 
tected  passengers,  now  dashing  into  the  midst  of  the 
current,  or  gliding  through  the  eddies  near  the 
shore  ! " 

He  closed  with  a  statement  of  the  difficulties  which 
beset  the  advocates  of  the  bill.  They  were,  he  said  : 
"First,  the  splendid  talents  which  are  arrayed  in 
this  House  against  us.  Second,  we  are  opposed  by 
the  rich  and  powerful  in  the  land.  Third,  the  ex 
ecutive  government,  if  any,  affords  us  but  a  cold 
and  equivocal  support.  Fourth,  the  importing  and 
navigating  interests,  I  verily  believe  from  miscon 
ception,  are  adverse  to  us.  Fifth,  the  British  fac 
tors  and  the  British  influence  are  inimical  to  our 
success.  Sixth,  long-established  habits  and  preju 
dices  oppose  us.  Seventh,  the  reviewers  and  liter 
ary  speculators,  foreign  and  domestic.  And  lastly, 
the  leading  presses  of  the  country,  including  the  in 
flueuce  of  that  which  is  established  in  this  city  and 
sustained  by  the  public  purse. 

"From  some  of  these,  or  other  causes,   the  bill 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  135 

may  be  postponed,  thwarted,  defeated.  But  the 
cause  is  the  cause  of  the  country,  and  it  must,  and 
will  prevail.  It  is  founded  in  the  interests  and  af 
fections  of  the  people.  It  is  as  native  as  the  granite 
deeply  embosomed  in  our  mountains.  And,  in  con 
clusion,  I  would  pray  God,  in  His  infinite  mercy, 
to  avert  from  our  country  the  evils  which  are  im 
pending  over  it  and  by  enlightening  our  councils  to 
conduct  us  into  that  path  which  leads  to  riches,  to 
greatness,  to  glory." 

This  speech  is  regarded  by  Mr.  Schurz  as  "  the 
most  elaborate  and  effective"  Clay  ever  made.1  No 
ideas  which  are  not  very  familiar  to  those  who  have 
followed  the  course  of  protectionist  speech  and  wri 
ting  in  this  country  in  a  century,  under  the  inspira 
tion  of  the  two  Careys,  were  developed  by  the  Keu- 
tuckian ;  but  it  is  probable  that  no  one  up  to  that 
time  at  least  had  ever  presented  them  so  fully  and 
forcibly.  The  bill  passed  the  House  by  a  majority 
of  three  and  the  Senate  by  the  same  small  majority. 
Its  enactment  was  effected  mainly  by  the  votes  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri.  Calhoun  and 
the  South  were  now  rapidly  changing  their  position 
in  reference  to  this  subject,2  and  New  England  had 
not  yet  joined  the  Middle  states  in  support  of  the 
policy  of  which,  in  later  years,  it  became  the  unfail 
ing  champion. 

Thus  did  Clay  stand  as  a  public  man  when  at  the 
end  of  Monroe's  second  term  a  successor  was  to  be 
chosen  to  the  presidency.  There  were  in  the  field, 
principally,  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  line  for  the 

1  Vol.  I,  p.  214.  2  Hunt,  Calhoun,  p.  61  et  seq. 


136  HENKY  CLAY 

succession  by  reason  of  his  service  as  Secretary  of 
State  and  his  large  public  experience  ;  Jackson,  now 
a  senator  from  Tennessee,  the  military  candidate  ; 
Clay,  Calhouu,  Monroe's  Secretary  of  War  ;  and 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  William  H.  Crawford, 
the  skilful  Georgia  politician  whose  name  is  now  all 
but  gone  out  of  the  popular  inind. 

In  the  contest  which  was  in  prospect  Clay  was  not 
to  be  so  prominent  a  factor  as  he  and  his  friends 
hoped  and  perhaps  anticipated.  He  did  not  con 
ceal  his  desire  to  become  the  successor  of  Mr.  Mon 
roe.  His  claims  were  actively  supported  by  Thomas 
H.  Bentou,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Clay,  now  lately  come 
to  the  Senate  from  the  new  state  of  Missouri.  The 
candidate  had  devoted  lieutenants  in  many  states, 
the  personal  attachment  to  him  in  quarters  wherein 
he  was  at  all  admired  being  of  a  remarkable  kind. 
It  was  at  a  day  when  aspirants  for  the  presidency 
were  not  nominated  in  party  conventions,  and  in 
this  "  era  of  good  feeling"  all  were  nominally 
members  of  the  same  party.  The  congressional 
caucus,  as  a  means  of  agreeing  upon  a  candidate, 
had  fallen  into  disfavor,  and  the  issue  was  largely 
in  the  hands  of  state  conventions  and  legislatures. 

As  early  as  in  1822,  Clay  was  nominated  for  the 
presidency  by  the  Kentucky  legislature,  and  other 
states  had  also  expressed  their  preference  for  him. 
In  the  region  in  which  his  strongest  support  might 
have  been  expected,  however,  the  West  and  South, 
Jackson  made  large  inroads.  The  "hero  of  New 
Orleans"  suddenly  became  the  stuff  out  of  which 
it  was  thought  by  the  masses  of  the  people  that  a 
great  lawgiver  might  be  made.  He  gained  the 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  137 

electoral  votes  of  a  number  of  states,  and  indeed  led 
the  poll  with  ninety-nine  against  eighty-four  for 
Adams,  forty -one  for  Crawford  and  thirty -seven  for 
Clay.  As  no  one  had  a  majority,  the  election  was 
thrown  into  the  House  of  Representatives,  which 
now  by  constitutional  provision,  was  required  to 
choose  from  among  the  three  leading  candidates. 
This  was  a  task  of  some  difficulty  in  the  existiug 
state  of  popular  feeling  and  the  result  might  very 
likely  have  been  the  election  of  Clay,  the  favorite 
Speaker  of  the  House,  if  he  had  been  on  the  eligible 
list.  As  it  was,  with  the  electoral  votes  of  Ken 
tucky,  Ohio  and  Missouri,  and  four  votes  from  New 
York,  he  was  considered  to  control  the  situation, 
and  was  courted  by  all  the  aspirants  in  the  hope 
that  he  would  forward  their  respective  ambitions. 
Some  have  thought  that  he  did  not  very  gracefully 
accept  his  own  defeat ;  but  he  had  lost  nothing  as  a 
national  figure  and  his  prominence,  indeed,  was  en 
hanced  by  his  situation. 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement,  it  was  his  pleasant 
duty  as  Speaker  of  the  House  to  welcome  Lafayette, 
whose  coming  to  America,  in  1824,  everywhere 
awakened  the  dearest  national  memories.1  The 
Kentuckian  had  long  been  in  correspondence  with 
the  old  patriot,  who  was  completely  captivated  by 
the  young  statesman's  warm  heart,  somewhat  French 
as  it  probably  was,  with  all  its  graces  and  quick 
impulses.  Mr.  Clay's  address  on  this  occasion  was 

1  Indeed,  it  was  suggested  that  Lafayette  should  be  elected 
Vice-President  and  Clay  wrote  his  friend,  Senator  J.  S.  Johnston, 
on  September  3,  1824 — '•  Such  a  disposition  of  the  office  would 
be  highly  creditable  to  the  national  gratitude,  if  it  could  be 
made  without  any  constitutional  impediment." 


138  HENRY  CLAY 

most  happy.  He  spoke  of  "  the  very  nigh  satisfac 
tion  which  your  presence  affords  in  this  early  theatre 
of  your  glory  and  renown."  In  one  respect  he 
would  find  the  Americans  unaltered — "  in  the  senti 
ment  of  continued  devotion  to  liberty,  and  of  ardent 
affection,  and  profound  gratitude  to  your  departed 
friend,  the  father  of  his  country,  and  to  you  and 
your  illustrious  associates  in  the  field  and  in  the 
cabinet  for  the  multiplied  blessings  which  surround 
us."  This  sentiment,  he  continued,  "now  fondly 
cherished  by  more  than  ten  millions  of  people,  will 
be  transmitted  with  unabated  vigor  down  the  tide  of 
time  through  the  countless  millions  who  are  des 
tined  to  inhabit  this  continent,  to  the  latest  pos 
terity." 

This  interregnum,  during  which  all  factions  for 
got  their  differences,  was  only  brief.  Even  Jackson 
thought  it  well  to  try  to  win  the  favor  of  Clay, 
though  the  latter' s  course  in  condemning  the  gen 
eral's  conduct  in  Florida  during  the  Seniiuole  War 
still  rankled.  No  one  seems  to  have  known  just 
where  the  Kentucky  leader  would  be  found  when 
the  task  of  choosing  from  among  Jackson,  Adams 
and  Crawford  really  faced  him.  Crawford  could  not 
have  tempted  a  man  like  Clay,  nor  did  he  exert  any 
fascination  upon  the  country  at  large.  He  had 
lately  suffered  partial  paralysis,  so  that  he  was  not 
able  to  append  his  name  to  the  documents  in  the 
Treasury  Department.  Clay  wrote  from  l  i  Ashland ' ' 
to  his  friend,  J.  S.  Johnston,  on  October  2,  1824,  that 
he  had  just  heard  from  a  man  who  had  seen  Craw 
ford.  "  He  says  that  his  gait,  articulation,  and 
general  appearance  indicated  most  clearly  the 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  139 

paralysis  under  which  he  has  labored  j  and  that  he 
appeared  to  be  much  more  infirm  thau  Mr.  Jeffer 
son  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  whom  he  also  saw."  l 
The  real  choice  lay  between  Jackson  and  Adanis. 
It  is  rather  difficult  now  to  see  how  there  was  room 
to  expect  any  but  one  result.  With  General  Jackson 
Clay  could  have  nothing  in  common,  so  far  as  good 
judges  of  human  nature  are  able  to  discern.  Their 
courses  up  to  this  time  indicate  no  meeting-ground, 
and  as  their  characters  were  unfolded  later,  sincerely 
aud  naturally  enough,  in  spite  of  exaggeration  here 
and  there  for  personal  antagonism,  no  congeniality 
of  view  presented  itself.  Clay  could  not  give  his 
support  to  a  "  military  chieftain  merely  because  he 
has  won  a  great  victory.'7  He  could  not  believe 
that  "  killing  2,500  Englishmen  at  New  Orleans  " 
qualified  for  ' l  the  various  difficult  and  complicated 
duties  of  the  chief  magistracy."  a 

It  is  true  that  Adams  and  Clay  had  come  into  con 
flict  at  Ghent.  They  were  men  of  essential  differ 
ences.  If  Adams's  diary  does  not  magnify,  they 
had  had  a  bitter  dispute  about  the  disposition  of  the 
papers  affecting  the  negotiations,  though  it  was  a 
puerile  quarrel,  and  should  not  have  left  open 
wounds.  Adams  here  and  there  in  his  journal  had 
expressed  unfavorable  opinions  of  Clay,  but  few,  who 
were  subjects  for  allusion  at  all,  escaped  his  criti 
cisms.  Anyhow,  they  were  just  passing  views  con 
fided  to  a  diary  which  is  always  a  trusted  friend. 
Once  in  1820,  however,  Adams  had  said  of  Clay, 
alluding  to  his  habit  of  playing  cards  for  money, 

1  Letter  in  Collections  of  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 
1  To  F.  P.  Blair,  Jan.  29,  1825,  Private  Correspondence,  p.  112. 


HO  HENRY  CLAY 

which  report,  among  his  political  enemies,  was  per 
sistently  attributed  to  him  :  "In  politics  as  in  pri 
vate  life  Clay  is  essentially  a  gamester,  and  with  a 
vigorous  intellect,  an  ardent  spirit,  a  handsome 
elocution,  though  with  a  ihiud  Very  detective  in 
elementary  knowledge  and  a  very  undigested  system 
of  ethics,  he  has  all  the  qualities  which  belong  to 
that  class  of  human  characters."  '  The  next  year 
Adams,  again  stung  by  some  attack,  said  :  "  Clay 
is  an  eloquent  man  with  very  popular  manners  and 
great  political  management.  He  is,  like  almost  all 
the  eminent  men  of  this  country,  only  half-educated. 
His  school  has  been  the  world  and  in  that  he  is  a 
proficient.  His  morals,  public  and  private,  are  loose 
but  he  has  all  the  virtues  indispensable  to  a  popular 
man.  .  .  .  Clay's  temper  is  impetuous  and  his 
ambition  impatient.  ...  As  President  of  the 
Union  his  administration  would  be  a  perpetual  suc 
cession  of  intrigue  and  management  with  the  legisla 
ture.  It  would  also  be  sectional  in  its  spirit,  and 
sacrifice  all  other  interests  to  those  of  the  Western 
country  and  the  slaveholders. ' '  * 

These  were  harsh  opinions  from  a  man  who  was 
now  to  be  President  or  not  to  be  President,  by  the 
favor  of  him  concerning  whom  they  were  uttered  ; 
but  that  they  had  been  cherished  or  recorded  no  one 
knew  until  the  diary  was  published,  twenty-five 
years  after  Clay's  death.  It  is  not  likely,  anyhow, 
that  the  revelation  of  them  would  have  influenced 
the  action  of  a  heart  so  magnanimous. 

The  Jackson  men  made  much  of  the  fact  that  their 
candidate  had  received  a  plurality  of  votes.  They 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  V,  p.  59.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  325-326. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  141 

pretended  to  believe  that  this  imposed  an  obligation 
upon  the  House,  which,  however,  refused  to  be 
bound  by  it,  for  Clay  and  his  nieii  very  soon  made  it 
clear  that  they  would  support  John  Quincy  Adams. 
This  knowledge  aroused  all  the  ire  in  Jackson's 
nature,  and  his  forces,  many  of  whom  were  always 
recruited  from  the  rough  and  lawless  elements  of  the 
population,  turned  upon  Clay  savagely.  He  was 
treated  to  anonymous  letters,  threatening  him  with 
personal  injury,  and  eiforts  of  many  kinds  were 
made  to  move  him  from  his  determination. 

"  No  man  but  myself, "  he  said  later,  in  reviewing 
the  trials  of  this  experience,  "  could  know  the 
nature,  extent  and  variety  of  means  which  were 
employed  to  awe  and  influence  me."  "  The  knaves 
cannot  comprehend  how  a  man  can  be  honest, ' '  he 
wrote  to  Francis  P.  Blair.  l '  They  cannot  conceive 
that  I  should  have  solemnly  interrogated  my  con 
science,  and  asked  it  to  tell  me  seriously  what  I  ought 
to  do."  '  "They  all  have  yet  to  learn  my  charac 
ter,"  he  said  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Brooke,  "  if  they 
suppose  it  possible  to  make  me  swerve  from  my 
duty  by  any  species  of  intimidation  or  denuncia 
tion." 

None  of  these  devices  availed.  "I  shall  view 
without  emotion,"  he  further  wrote  Brooke,  "  these 
effusions  of  malice  and  remain  unshaken  in  my 
purpose.  What  is  a  public  man  worth  if  he  will 
not  expose  himself,  on  fit  occasions,  for  the  good  of 
the  country  f ' ' 

The  most  dastardly  trick  of  all  was  the  publication 
of  a  letter,  on  January  28th,  less  than  a  fortnight 
1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  112. 


142  HENKY  CLAY 

before  the  election  iu  the  House,  in  the  Columbian 
Observer,  an  inconspicuous  newspaper  issued  in 
Philadelphia.  The  correspondent  wrote  from  Wash  - 
ington.  He  took  his  pen  in  hand  to  tell  the  editor 
of  "one  of  the  most  disgraceful  transactions  that 
ever  covered  with  infamy  the  Republican  ranks." 
He  had  heard  of  a  "  bargain  ' '  which  was  as  bad  as 
11  the  famous  Burr  conspiracy  of  1801."  Adams 
had  offered  Clay  the  post  of  Secretary  of  State  after 
Jackson  had  refused  the  overtures  of  Clay  to  the 
same  end.  Such  doings  would  mean  the  ' i  end  of 
liberty."  No  name  was  signed  to  the  communica 
tion,  but  it  was  said  to  have  come  from  a  member 
of  Congress. 

Clay  was  probably  too  hasty  in  leaping  at  such 
an  assailant,  but  on  February  1,  1825,  he  issued  a 
card  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  the  most  essential 
portion  of  which  was  his  statement  that,  if  the  letter 
were  not  a  forgery,  he  would  "pronounce  the 
member,  whoever  he  may  be,  a  base  and  infamous 
calumniator,  a  dastard  and  a  liar."  "If  he  dare 
unveil  himself  and  avow  his  name,"  Mr.  Clay  con 
tinued,  "I  will  hold  him  responsible,  as  I  here 
admit  myself  to  be,  to  all  the  laws  which  govern 
and  regulate  men  of  honor."  He  soon  repented 
of  the  last  words  of  his  statement,  especially  when 
he  learned  the  identity  of  the  writer  of  the  letter. 
He  said  afterward  that  he  did  not  wish  to  seem  to 
be  the  patron  of  the  duel,  "  a  pernicious  practice 
which  no  man  could  hold  in  deeper  abhorrence." 
"  Condemned  as  it  must  be,"  he  added,  "by  the 
judgment  and  philosophy,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
religion  of  every  thinking  man,  it  is  an  affair  of 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  143 

feeling  about  which  we  cannot,  although  we  should 
reason.  Its  true  corrective  will  be  found  when  all 
shall  unite,  as  we  all  ought  to  unite,  in  its  unquali 
fied  proscription."  The  writer  of  the  letter  when 
he  came  out  of  hiding,  which  he  did  in  a  day  or 
two  in  "  another  card  "  in  the  National  Intelligencer, 
proved  to  be  George  Kremer,  a  Pennsylvania  con 
gressman,  a  well-known  partisan  of  Jackson.  He 
was  a  quite  ridiculous  figure  in  Washington,  as  at 
home.  He  was  mainly  famous  for  his  leopard  skin 
overcoat,  and  eccentric  behavior  generally,  so  that 
Mr.  Clay,  as  none  knew  better  than  he,  had  shot  at 
too  small  a  mark. 

Nevertheless,  Clay  asked  for  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  in  the  House  to  investigate  the  charge. 
It  was  elected  by  ballot.  Kremer,  who  had  been  so 
bold,  now  refused  to  give  any  authority  for  his 
allegations,  and  there  was  no  report  except  a  state 
ment  to  this  effect  which  was  made  on  February 
9th,  the  very  day  that  the  House  assembled  to  elect 
a  President  of  the  United  States.  Adams  was 
chosen,  receiving  the  votes  of  thirteen  states,  while 
Jackson  was  supported  by  only  seven  and  Crawford 
by  four  delegations.  Clay  was  appointed  Secretary 
of  State,  and  although  Jackson  and  fourteen  other 
senators  voted  against  the  confirmation  of  the  name, 
the  result  was  accomplished  without  them. 

With  Adams  and  Clay  both  in  their  offices,  the 
"  terms  of  the  bargain"  wore  the  appearance  of 
having  been  carried  out.  In  the  minds  of  many 
people,  Clay's  acceptance  of  the  position  strength 
ened  the  impression  of  the  existence  of  an  under 
standing  between  him  and  Adams,  or,  at  any  rate, 


144  HENRY  CLAY 

between  their  respective  friends.  In  vain  did  ('lay 
say  that  lie  had  no  alternative  but  to  choose  Adams 
as  President  j  he  could  not  conscientiously  favor 
Jackson.  In  vain  did  Adams  explain  that  he  de 
sired  to  avail  himself  of  Clay's  great  experience  as 
a  public  man,  which  had  been  the  sole  motive  in 
appointing  him.  to  be  the  head  of  the  State  Depart 
nieut.  In  vain  was  the  retort  that  James  Buchanan 
and  others  had  proffered  Clay  a  place  as  Secretary 
of  State  in  Jackson's  cabinet,  if  he  would  but  sup 
port  the  hero  of  New  Orleans.  In  vain  did  both 
men  now  and  hereafter  resent  the  imputations  of 
their  enemies. 

Kremer  had  been  a  mere  instrument  and  dupe. 
Jackson  himself  returned  to  Tennessee  raging  about 
"bargain  and  corruption"  and  the  u  great  con 
spiracy,"  while  his  friends  took  up  the  cry  and 
circulated  it  until  there  was  no  backwoods  settle 
ment  which  was  not  able  to  talk  fluently  of  the 
event  for  the  next  twenty  years,  unsupported  as  it 
was  by  one  scintilla  of  evidence.1  As  late  as  in 
1844,  when  Jackson  reiterated  the  charge,  it  again 
deprived  Clay  of  votes  which  he  needed,  and  might 
have  had  at  the  election  of  that  year.  Even  if 
there  had  been  such  a  bargain,  there  was  no  neces 
sary  inference  of  corruption,  yet  this  incident  was 
the  stalking  horse  of  politics  throughout  the  whole 
Jacksouian  epoch  in  our  national  history.  The 
oftener  the  story  was  repeated,  the  more  it  was 
denied.  Colton  in  his  Life  of  Clay  devoted  four 
chapters  of  his  work  to  the  "corrupt  bargain," 

1  Scburz,  Vol.  I,  p.  246  et  aeq. ;  Sumner,  Jackson,  p.  90 
et  seq. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  145 

nud  the  bugaboo  grew  greater  each  time  the  subject 
was  discussed. 

Oil  March  3d,  Clay  retired  from  the  House  of 
Kepresentatives,  and  from  his  place  as  its  Speaker, 
which  he  had  held  almost  continuously  since  the  day 
he  entered  the  chamber.  A  resolution  was  passed, 
thanking  him  for  "the  able,  impartial  and  dignified 
manner"  in  which  he  had  presided  over  the  de 
liberations  of  the  body,  and  Mr.  Clay  in  response 
made  a  graceful  speech  in  the  course  of  which  he  said : 

''Near  fourteen  years,  with  but  comparatively 
short  intervals,  the  arduous  duties  of  the  chair  have 
been  assigned  to  me.  .  .  .  Of  the  numerous 
decisions  which  I  have  been  called  upon  to  pro 
nounce  from  this  place  on  questions  often  suddenly 
started,  and  of  much  difficulty,  it  has  so  happened 
from  the  generous  support  given  me,  that  not  one  of 
them  has  ever  been  reversed  by  the  House.  I  ad 
vert  to  this  fact,  not  in  a  vain  spirit  of  exultation, 
but  as  furnishing  a  powerful  motive  for  uudia- 
sembled  gratitude.  In  retiring,  perhaps  forever, 
from  a  situation  with  which  so  large  a  portion  of 
my  life  has  been  associated,  I  shall  continually  re 
vert,  during  the  remainder  of  it,  with  increasing 
respect  and  gratitude  to  this  great  theatre  of  our 
public  action.  .  .  .  In  returning  to  your  respect 
ive  families  and  constituents,  I  beg  all  of  you, 
without  exception,  to  carry  with  you  my  fervent 
prayers  for  the  continuation  of  your  lives,  your 
health  and  your  happiness." 

To  John  Quincy  Adams  he  was  "  the  unrivaled 
Speaker,"  l  while  Eobert  C.  Winthrop  of  Massachu- 
1  New  Jersey  Letter,  1827. 


146  HENEY  CLAY 

setts  declared  :  "  Mr.  Clay  was  six  times  elected 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  held  that  lol'ty  position 
longer  than  any  one  in  the  history  of  our  country 
before  or  since.  No  abler  or  more  commanding 
officer  ever  sat  in  a  Speaker's  chair  on  either  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  Prompt,  dignified,  resolute,  fearless, 
he  had  a  combination  of  intellectual  and  physical 
qualities  which  made  him  a  natural  ruler  over  men. 
There  was  a  magnetism  in  his  voice  and  manner 
which  attracted  the  willing  attention,  acquiescence 
and  even  obedience  of  those  over  whom  he  pre 
sided." 

No  painstaking  student  of  parliamentary  law,  he 
relied  usually  upon  his  own  instinctive  sense  of 
what  was  proper  and  practicable  in  the  emergency 
at  hand.  Once,  many  years  afterward,  he  said  to 
Mr.  Winthrop,  while  the  latter  occupied  the  chair  : 

"  I  have  attentively  observed  your  course  as 
Speaker,  and  I  have  heartily  approved  it.  But  let 
me  give  you  one  hint  from  the  experience  of  the 
oldest  survivor  of  your  predecessors.  Decide — de 
cide  promptly— and  never  give  your  reasons  for  the 
decision.  The  House  will  sustain  your  decisions, 
but  there  will  always  be  men  to  cavil  and  quarrel 
about  your  reasons." 

This  brilliant  epoch  in  his  life  had  now  come 
to  an  end.  Mr.  Clay  is  to  be  viewed  in  a  new  field 
—as  Secretary  of  State. 

1  Winthrop,  Memoir  of  Clay,  p.  6. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SECRETARY   OF  STATE 

IT  is  quite  likely  that  110  four  years  in  Clay's 
life  were  so  unhappy  as  those  which  he  spent  at  the 
head  of  the  Department  of  State.  Though  he  wished 
the  office,  probably  only  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
presidency,  which  he  believed  it  to  be,  he  must  have 
realized  after  the  experience  that  he  was  preemi 
nently  intended  by  nature  for  other  public  fields. 
His  place  was  as  a  parliamentary  leader.  He- was 
the  Prince  Etipert  of  debate.  There  was  meagre,  if 
any,  satisfaction  in  store  for  him  in  the  places  where 
governmental  tasks  are  quietly  performed,  and  he 
chafed  until  he  became  quite  ill  under  the  restraints 
of  his  position.  He  knew  himself  well  when  he  wrote 
to  Francis  Brooke  on  February  18,  1825,  while  dis 
cussing  the  expediency  of  accepting  the  office  :  "  I 
have  an  unaffected  repugnance  to  any  executive 
employment." 

The  years  during  which  he  was  Secretary  of  State 
yielded  few  notable  results  to  the  nation  and  were 
marked  by  personal  bitterness,  rancor  and  discord. 
They  were  filled  with  the  echoes  of  the  presidential 
contest  of  1824,  and  the  noise  which  preceded  the 
greater  battle  to  be  waged  in  1828.  There  were  few 
opportunities  for  Clay  to  speak,  or  to  do  any  of 
those  things  which  gave  him  most  joy  and  which 
enabled  him  to  shine  brightly  as  a  public  character. 


14S  HENEY  CLAY 

He  loved  the  din  of  action.  He  needed  apprecia 
tion  and  praise.  He  was,  beyond  most  men,  raised 
up  by  success  and  cast  down  by  defeat.  He  was 
likely  to  be  over -joyous  or  over-despondent,  and 
his  moods  made  him  a  man  whom  many  of  his  con 
temporaries,  as  well  as  his  later  judges,  did  not 
always  understand. 

The  experience  served  at  least  to  make  a  friend 
of  John  Quincy  Adams,  whose  colder,  more  severe 
views  of  life  had  sometimes  led  to  misunderstanding. 
In  a  speech  at  Lexington  on  July  12,  1827,  Clay 
said  of  Adams  : — "  I  have  found  him  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  able,  enlightened,  patient  of  inves 
tigation  and  ever  ready  to  receive  with  respect  and 
when  approved  by  his  judgment  to  act  upon  the 
counsels  of  his  official  advisers.  .  .  .  From  the 
commencement  of  the  government,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  no  chief 
magistrate  has  found  the  members  of  his  cabinet  so 
united  on  all  public  measures,  and  so  cordial  and 
friendly  in  all  their  intercourse,  private  and  official, 
as  these  are  of  the  present  President." 

To  Crawford  he  wrote,  in  the  next  year  :  "I  had 
fears  of  Mr.  Adams's  temper  and  disposition,  but  1 
must  say  that  they  have  not  been  realized  and  I 
have  found  in  him,  since  I  have  been  associated 
with  him  in  the  executive  government,  as  little  to 
censure  and  condemn  as  I  could  have  expected  in 
any  man."  l  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Adams,  by 
closer  acquaintance,  was  brought  greatly  to  admire 
his  Secretary  of  State.  His  diary  for  this  period 
contains  many  friendly  references, — and  none  that 

1  Private  Corn'xpondc.nre,  p.  11M. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  149 

are  unfriendly — to  Mr.  Clay.  Their  relations  were 
at  every  point  harmonious,  else  record  would  have 
been  made  of  it  by  the  diarist.  It  has  been  so  often 
said  of  Clay  that  he  was  an  unseemly  seeker  after 
the  presidency  that  his  devotion  to  his  chief  in 
these  years  needs  to  be  noted.  He  thought  and 
spoke  of  no  other  candidate  for  the  succession  ex 
cept  Adams  himself.  No  disloyalty  like  that  which 
Chase,  another  man  whose  ambitions  are  often  under 
review,  exhibited  toward  Lincoln,  characterized 
Clay.  He  served  with  deference.  He  consulted 
when  differences  of  opinion  arose  and  acceded 
gracefully. 

The  President  and  his  Secretary  of  State  were  fel 
low  sufferers  in  such  a  storm  of  calumny  as  had  not 
been  experienced  by  any  public  man  since  John 
Adams  was  helped  out  of  office  through  this  agency 
by  the  Jeffersouiaus.  The  son  was  now  living 
through  a  like  period,  and  would  suffer  in  the  same 
way  at  the  hands  of  the  Jackson  men,  a  still  ruder 
type  of  Democrats,  recruited  from  the  growing 
back-settlements  of  the  West,  aud  fed  upon  uew 
ideas  of  equality  which  had  never  yet  gained  a 
practical  ascendency  in  the  management  of  the  gov 
ernment.  Hitherto  the  people,  though  they  were 
"  equal,"  were  willing  by  common  consent  to  place 
their  superiors  in  public  office.  They  felt  an  honest 
pride  in  doing  this.  Now  for  the  first  time  skill 
and  experience  in  statecraft,  and  learning  of  all 
kinds,  were  to  be  cast  to  the  four  winds,  and  the 
government  was  to  be  directed  on  an  entirely  dif 
ferent  plan. 

Adams's  view  of  Clay  was  sincerely  expressed 


150  HENEY  CLAY 

shortly  after  he  left  the  presidency.  He  said  in 
reference  to  the  * l  corrupt  bargain  • '  story  on  March 
11,  1829,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  a  committee  in 
New  Jersey  :  * '  Upon  him  [Clay]  the  foulest  slan 
ders  have  been  showered.  .  .  .  The  Department 
of  State  itself  i^as  a  station,  which,  by  its  bestowal, 
could  confer  neither  profit  nor  honor  upon  him,  but 
upon  which  he  has  shed  unfading  honor  by  the 
manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  its  duties. 
Prejudice  and  passion  have  charged  him  with  ob 
taining  that  office  by  bargain  and  corruption.  Be 
fore  you,  my  fellow  citizens,  in  the  presence  of  our 
country  and  of  Heaven,  I  pronounce  that  charge 
totally  unfounded.  .  .  .  As  to  my  motives  for 
tendering  to  him  the  Department  of  State  when  I 
did,  let  that  man  who  questions  them  come  forward. 
Let  him  look  around  among  statesmen  and  legisla 
tors  of  this  nation,  and  of  that  day.  Let  him  then 
select  and  name  the  man,  whom,  by  his  preeminent 
talents,  by  his  splendid  services,  by  his  ardent 
patriotism,  by  his  all-embracing  public  spirit,  by 
his  fervid  eloquence  in  behalf  of  the  rights  and  lib 
erties  of  mankind,  by  his  long  experience  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Union,  foreign  and  domestic,  a  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  intent  only  upon  the 
honor  and  welfare  of  his  country,  ought  to  have  pre 
ferred  to  Henry  Clay."  l 

These  four  years  in  the  history  of  the  State  De 
partment  were  not  productive  of  any  important  pub 
lic  measure.  One  there  would  have  been  if  it  had 
succeeded,  the  first  Pan-American  Congress.  The 
subject  of  our  relations  with  the  Spanish -American 
1  Prentice,  Appendix,  pp.  300-301. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  161 

countries  was  one  which,  now  as  before,  strongly 
appealed  to  Clay's  ardently  sympathetic  nature  and 
to  his  lively  imagination.  The  experience  here,  as 
in  other  affairs,  at  close  range  with  all  the  facilities 
for  being  apprised  of  the  facts  and  with  the  respon 
sibility  of  acting  upon  them,  which  a  speaker  in  a 
legislative  chamber  seldom  or  never  feels,  was  quiet 
ing  and  educational  in  its  influence.  The  southern 
republics  themselves  had  originated  the  plan  for  the 
congress  which  was  to  be  held  on  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  at  the  junction  point  of  the  hemispheres. 
The  scheme  had  been  in  mind  for  several  years  and 
the  hope,  of  course,  was  the  formation  of  a  kind  of 
cis- Atlantic  Pan -American  League  to  oppose  its 
front  against  any  possible  European  aggression  now 
or  in  time  to  come.  It  was  an  undertaking  of  large 
dimensions  and  it  sorely  needed  the  favor  of  the 
United  States. 

No  more  fortunate  time  could  have  been  selected 
than  during  Clay's  administration  of  the  State  De 
partment,  but  after  all  the  plans  were  laid,  circum 
stances  arose  wholly  to  prevent  success.  President 
Adams,  who  at  first  disapproved,  was  induced  to 
favor  the  enterprise  and  he  submitted  to  Congress 
a  proposal  for  sending  commissioners  to  the  meet 
ing.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  administration's  ar 
rangements  were  opposed.  The  slaveholding  ele 
ment,  since  the  Missouri  discussion,  was  being  con 
solidated.  Adams,  in  his  message,  expressed  such 
hopes  for  the  nation  under  the  Constitution  as  had 
not  been  heard  since  Hamilton's  day.  He  favored 
not  only  extensive  internal  improvements,  but  also 
a  national  university  and  establishments  to  promote 


152  HENEY  CLAY 

u  the  cultivation  of  the  mechanic  and  of  the  elegant 
arts,  the  advancement  of  literature,  the  progress  oi 
the  sciences,  ornamental  and  profound."  This  was 
a  monstrous  theory  at  a  time  when  the  country  had 
just  emerged  from  twenty -four  years  of  strict  con 
struction  at  the  hands  of  the  Virginians.  It  was 
now  becoming  convenient  for  Calhoun  and  his  fol 
lowers  in  the  South  to  interpret  the  Constitution  in 
the  most  niggard  way  in  reference  to  the  national 
powers.  In  state  rights  they  conceived  that  they 
would  find  their  stronghold  against  the  Korth, 
which  they  were  shrewd  enough  to  see  was  bearing 
them  down  to  an  inevitable  fate.1 

Though  the  Panama  Congress  could  not  of  itself 
be  held  to  be  unconstitutional,  it  was  the  project  of 
a  man  who  cherished  and  sought  to  impose  upon 
the  country  very  unconstitutional  theories.  More 
over,  the  slaveholders  feared  association  with  states 
which  had  emancipated  their  negroes  and  which  very 
likely  might  send  black  men  to  the  conference  as 
delegates.  At  length,  however,  opinion  in  Con 
gress  was  appeased  in  some  degree,  since  the  under 
taking  promised  to  be  very  popular  in  the  country 
at  large ;  the  ministers  were  confirmed  by  the  Senate, 
and  the  money  was  appropriated  to  bear  the  ex 
penses  of  the  mission.  These  envoys  were  John 
Sergeant  of  Pennsylvania  and  Richard  C.  Anderson 
of  Kentucky.  Clay  had  hoped  to  secure  the  serv 
ices  of  Albert  Gallatin,  who,  however,  declined. 
The  delegates  started  away  in  the  summer  of  1820, 
Anderson  dying  on  the  journey,  whereupon  Joel  R 
Poiusett,  our  Minister  in  Mexico,  was  asked  to  take 
1  Hunt.  Calhoun. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  153 

his  place  in  the  congress.  When  Sergeant  arrived 
upon  the  ground,  the  Spanish- Americans  who,  then 
as  now,  were  like  mercury,  had  adjourned  to  reas 
semble  in  Mexico,  but,  involving  themselves  again 
in  some  of  their  inevitable  revolutions,  the  second 
meeting  was  never  held.  The  mission  came  to 
naught,  except  as  a  lesson  to  Mr.  Clay,  to  put  his 
faith  not  again  in  his  earlier  absolute  way  in  the 
people  of  Latin  America,  though  they  should  live 
in  "  republics"  under  " presidents." 

It  was  during  the  discussion  in  relation  to  the 
Panama  mission  that  Mr.  Clay  was  moved  to  great 
anger  by  a  foul  speech  which  fell  from  the  lips  of 
John  Randolph.  This  man  was  growing  more  and 
more  abusive  and  irresponsible  in  his  utterances. 
In  the  summer  of  1828  President  Adams  wrote  of 
him  that  he  was  ' i  the  image  and  superscription  of 
a  great  man  stamped  upon  base  metal."  His  mind 
was  "  a  jumble  of  sense,  wit  and  absurdity."  *  It 
was  in  one  of  his  u drunken  speeches"  in  the  Sen 
ate,  to  which  chamber  he  had  been  advanced  late 
in  1825  to  fill  a  vacancy,  that  he  made  his  famous 
allusion  to  Adams  and  Clay  as  "the  coalition  of 
Blifil  and  Black  George." 

Throughout  it  was  probably  the  most  blackguardly 
speech  ever  heard  in  either  branch  of  Congress,  but 
the  confusion  of  the  sentences,  and  the  mental  con 
dition  of  the  man  who  uttered  them  should  have 
kept  Mr.  Clay,  as  it  did  Mr.  Adams,  from  taking 
particular  note  of  it.  However,  since  the  Panama 
mission  was  Mr.  Clay's  particular  measure,  and  he 
had  been  stung  before  by  Randolph's  tongue,  it 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  64. 


154  HENRY  CLAY 

seemed  impossible  for  him  to  sit  quietly  under  the 
outrageous  attack.  Kaudolph  maundered  along, 
frequently  introducing  Greek  and  Latin  phrases, 
and  making  many  allusions  to  the  figures  in  ancient 
history,  holy  and  profane,  in  the  history  of  Russia, 
Shakespeare,  Don  Quixote,  Gil  Bias,  and  nearly 
everything  else  which  time  had  crowded  into  his 
mind.  He  indulged  in  remarks  that  drove  the 
ladies  from  the  galleries  and  was  vainly  urged  by 
Hayne  and  other  senators  to  take  his  seat.  This  he 
would  not  do  until  he  believed  himself  done.  He 
poured  his  ridicule  upon  a  President  who  had  been 
elected  to  be  President  of  the  United  States,  but  was 
now  busily  engaged  in  trying  to  make  himself 
"  the  President  of  the  human  race."  "  Who  made 
him  his  brother's  keeper?"  Eandolph  inquired. 
"  Who  gave  him — the  President  of  the  United  States 
—the  custody  of  the  liberties,  or  the  rights,  or  the 
interests  of  South  America,  or  any  other  America, 
save  only  the  United  States  of  America,  or  any 
other  country  under  the  sun  ?  "  They  used  to  race 
horses,  play  cards  and  play  billiards,  but  these 
things  were  forbidden,  and  the  tedium  vitce  now 
found  expression  in  Sunday-schools,  missionary 
societies,  colonization  societies — "  taking  care  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  free  negroes,  and  God  knows 
who."  He  had  seen  pious  people  in  Virginia. 
Though  the  little  negroes  about  them  were  so  ragged 
as  to  be  obliged  to  hide  for  shame,  the  women  of  the 
family  were  "employed  in  making  pantaloons  and 
jackets  for  the  free  negroes  of  Liberia." 

Eandolph  dwelt  with  great  brutality  upon  the 
subject  of  the  "  corrupt  bargain."     "An  alliance, 


SECEETAEY  OF  STATE  155 

offensive  and  defensive,  had  been  got  up  between 
old  Massachusetts  and  Kentucky  j  between  the  frost 
of  January  and  young,  blithe,  buxom  and  blooming 
May — the  eldest  daughter  of  Virginia, — young 
Kentucky — not  so  young,  however,  as  to  make  a 
prudent  match  and  sell  her  charms  for  her  full 
value."  He  began  his  allusion  to  Blifil  and  Black 
George  by  asking,  "  On  what  occasion  was  it  that 
Junius  said,  after  Lord  Chatham  had  said  it  before 
him,  that  it  reminded  him  of  the  union  between 
Blifil  and  Black  George  ?  "  He  would  not  say  which 
was  Blifil  and  which  was  Black  George.  When  he 
drew  pictures,  he  did  not  write  under  them,  "This 
is  a  man"  or  "This  is  ahorse."  Continuing  his 
observations,  he  came  to  a  vote  upon  some  resolu 
tions  which  had  gone  against  him.  "I  was  de 
feated,  horse,  foot  and  dragoons,"  he  declared, 
"  cut  up  and  clean  broke  down  by  the  coalition  of 
Blifil  and  Black  George — by  the  combination  un 
heard  of  till  then  of  the  Puritan  with  the  blackleg." 

"  Having  disposed  of  this  subject,"  continued 
Eaudolph,  "  I  shall  say  one  word  more  and  sit 
down,"  but  his  promise  was  not  fulfilled  and  he  spun 
his  mad  skein  of  words  for  another  hour.1 

When  the  report  of  this  speech  reached  Clay's 
ears,  he  challenged  Eandolph,  in  the  old  Southern 
fashion,  though  but  for  Benton's  extended  report  of 
the  affair  it  would  not  have  proven  itself  much  bet 
ter  entitled  to  serious  place  in  the  annals  of  dueling 
than  Clay's  earlier  experience  upon  the  "field  of 

1  Register  of  Debates  in  Congress,  1825-1826,  Vol.  II,  Part  I, 
p.  389  et  seq ;  also  Garland's  Life  of  John  Randolph,Vol.  II, 
p.  249  et  seq. 


156  HENRY  CLAY 

honor. '•  He  had  lately  expressed  his  very  great 
distaste  for  this  method  of  settling  private  disputes, 
after  he  had  reflected,  as  will  be  remembered,  upoii 
his  outburst  of  rage  following  the  publication  of 
George  Krerner's  letter  in  a  newspaper  in  Philadel 
phia.  He  sincerely  hated  it  and  was  really  him 
self  very  inexpert  in  the  use  of  weapons,  so  that  he 
must  have  fared  badly  in  any  serious  encounter. 
Ifis  ardent  temperament,  however,  seemed  to  com 
pel  him  to  resent  gross  imputations  upon  his  honor 
in  this  way,  and  he  now  issued  another  challenge 
which  Randolph  accepted  promptly.  From  begin 
ning  to  end  the  duel  was  a  drama  full  of  comical 
punctilio,  though  it  might  easily  have  ended  fatally, 
for  the  principals  were  much  in  earnest. 

Randolph's  speech  was  delivered  on  the  30th  of 
March.  On  April  1st,  according  to  Benton,  Gen 
eral  Jesup,  Clay's  second,  found  the  eccentric  old 
Virginian  and  the  arrangements  were  made  for  a 
meeting.  The  time  fixed  was  at  half-past  four 
o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  April  8th,  on 
the  Virginia  bank  of  the  Potomac,  above  the  Little 
Falls  Bridge.  The  combatants  were  to  use  pistols 
at  the  distance  of  ten  paces.  Benton,  according  to 
the  "code,''  was  barred  from  serving  as  a  second, 
because  he  was  a  blood  relation  of  Mrs.  Clay,  but 
he  was  "at  liberty  to  attend  as  a  mutual  friend." 
The  men  stood  up  and  gravely  observed  all  the  cus 
toms  of  duelists,  the  fire  of  each  at  the  first  passage 
having  missed  the  object  for  which  it  was  designed. 
Randolph's  bullet  struck  the  stump  behind  Mr. 
Clay,  and  Clay's  "  knocked  up  the  earth  and  gravel 
behind  Mr.  Randolph." 


SECRETARY  OP  STATE  157 

The  mutual  friend,  Benton,  now  interposed,  but 
both  men  demanded  another  shot.  Clay  again 
missed  his  mark,  merely  piercing  the  skirt  of  a  white 
flannel  wrapper  which  Randolph  had  curiously  worn 
for  the  occasion.  "The  unseemly  garment,"  says 
Mallory,1  "constituted  such  a  vast  circumference 
that  the  locality  of  the  thin  and  swarthy  senator 
was  at  least  a  matter  of  very  vague  conjecture." 
Randolph  himself  fired  his  second  shot  into  the  air 
in  some  chivalrous  spirit  which  took  possession  of 
his  eccentric  moods,  saying,  "  I  do  not  fire  at  you, 
Mr.  Clay."2  He  advanced  toward  his  antagonist, 
offering  his  hand  and  remarking,  as  he  pointed  to 
the  bullet-hole,  that  Clay  owed  him  a  coat.  The 
Secretary  of  State  said  in  his  happiest  way,  "  I  am 
glad  the  debt  is  no  greater."  Thus  ended,  what  was 
for  Benton,  at  least,  as  he  wrote  in  later  life,  "  the 
last  high-toned  duel "  that  he  had  seen.  It  was  in 
deed  "among  the  highest- toned  "  that  he  had  ever 
witnessed.3 

A  number  of  treaties  and  conventions  with  for 
eign  powers  were  negotiated  during  Clay's  incum 
bency  of  the  secretaryship.  These  related  largely 

1  Vol.  I,  p.  147. 

8  The  night  before  the  duel  Randolph  sent  for  his  friend  Gen 
eral  James  Hamilton  of  South  Carolina,  who  said  of  that  inter 
view  :  "I  found  him  calm,  but  in  a  singularly  kind  and  confi 
ding  mood.  He  told  me  that  lie  had  something  on  his  mind  to 
tell  me.  He  then  remarked,  ;  Hamilton,  I  have  determined  to 
receive  without  returning  Clay's  fire  ;  nothing  shall  induce  me 
to  harm  a  hair  of  his  head.  I  will  not  make  his  wife  a  widow, 
or  his  children  orphans.  Their  tears  would  be  shed  over  his 
grave,  but  when  the  sod  of  Virginia  rests  on  my  bosom  there  is 
not  in  this  wide  world  one  individual  to  pay  this  tribute  upon 
mine.'  » 

3  Benton,  Thirty  Years1  View,  Vol.  I,  p.  70. 


158  HEKEY  CLAY 

to  commerce  and  navigation.     There  was  little  op 
portuuity  for  a  brilliant  foreign  policy  which  it  in 
certain  that  Clay  would  have  directed  had  the  oc 
casion  presented  itself.     The  passages  with  other 
governments,  in  which  he  had  a  hand,  do  not  relate  > 
to  subjects  in  our  history  which  need  to  be  remem 
bered,  and  the  four  years  added  little  to  his  famo 
as  a  public  man,  as  they  unfortunately  contributed 
nothing  to  his  own  peace  and  enjoyment.     He  wau 
"  abused  and  assailed  without  example,"  as  he  said 
in  a  speech  in  Cincinnati  on  August  23,  1828.     Ho 
had  presumed  to  speak  of  Jackson  as  a  "  military 
chieftain,"  which  was  the  excuse  for  a  personal 
statement  by  "  Old  Hickory,"  and  the  fury  of  the 
combat  increased,  with  "bargain  and  corruption' 
always  in  the  foreground.     No  denial  would  avail 
1 '  The   charge  like  every  lie, ' '  as  Mr.  Coltou  re 
marks,1  "would   travel   over  the  continent  while 
truth  was  putting  its  boots  on."  2 

'Vol.  V,  p.  341. 

2  Now  already  Clay  and  his  friends  were  collecting  testimony 
to  rebut  the  story  of  the  "  bargain,"  a  movement  for  campaign 
purposes  which  in  subsequent  years  reached  much  greater  pro 
portions.  On  the  14th  of  December,  1827,  he  wrote  from  Wash 
ingtou  to  the  wife  of  his  friend,  Benjamin  Gratz,  in  Lexington, 
at  whose  home  in  1824  he  had  made  statements  concerning  his 
relation  to  the  respective  claims  of  Adams  and  Jackson.  He 
said  : 

"I  received  this  morning  your  obliging  letter  of  the  3d  in 
stant  on  the  subject  of  that  which  I  had  addressed  to  Mr.  Grat/. 
1  have  a  distinct  recollection  of  the  occasion,  at  your  house,  on 
which  the  conversation  stated  by  you  took  place  ;  and  lam  per 
fectly  sure  that  your  narrative  of  it  is  entirely  accurate.  1 
know  not  how  to  express,  with  sufficient  warmth  and  gratitude, 
my  very  great  obligations  for  your  kindness  in  writing  the  letter 
and  your  generous  permission  to  use  it  in  my  defense.  Al 
though  I  feel  sensible  that  it  would  be  of  much  benefit  to  me, 
and  I  should  feel  proud  and  honored  by  the  exhibition  of  the 


SECKETARY  OF  STATE  159 

Mr.  Clay's  health,  while  he  was  Secretary  of 
State,  was  at  times  so  miserable  that  his  life  was 
despaired  of.  The  nature  of  his  malady  was  rather 
mysterious,  but  it  was  made  much  worse  by  the 
campaign  of  calumny  he  was  compelled  to  pass 
through  and  led  several  times  to  his  thinking  very 
seriously  of  resignation.  The  issue  was  several 
times  under  discussion  with  the  President.  On 
February  18,  1828,  Mr.  Adams  writes  in  his  diary : 
"Mr.  Clay  was  here  complaining  of  the  state  of  his 
health,  which  he  says  is  so  bad  that  nothing,  except 
the  existing  state  of  things,  could  induce  him  to 
continue  longer  in  the  public  service.  He  thinks 
his  health  is  gradually  sinking  and  his  spirits  are 
obviously  giving  way  under  the  load  of  obloquy, 
scandal  and  persecution  which  has  been  heaped 
upon  him  as  well  as  upon  me."  1 

In  April  he  again  told  the  President  that  he  must 


name  of  a  fair  witness,  among  the  other  respectable  persons  who 
have  testified  to  the  same  point,  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  use 
the  privilege  which  you  have  given  so  kindly.  I  cannot  con 
sent  to  place  your  name  in  the  public  prints.  Some  rude  and 
uncourteous  editor  or  scribbler  might  say  something  to  wound 
your  feelings  or  my  own  on  account  of  you. 

"  I  shall  write  to  Mr.  Blair  [Francis  P.  Blair  who  was  pres 
ent  on  the  occasion]  and  procure  his  statement  which  may  su 
persede  the  necessity  of  a  public  use  of  yours,  which  I  shall 
nevertheless  file  carefully  away  and  preserve  among  my  most 
cherished  documents.  ...  I  have  nothing  new  to  com 
municate  to  you  from  this  place.  Of  politics  everybody  is 
heartily  tired,  tho'  we  learn  that  the  ladies  in  Lexington 
are  arrayed  under  opposite  standards,  and  take  a  lively  interest 
in  behalf  of  their  respective  favorites.  I  hope  that  the  unusually 
large  number  of  your  sex  who  have  come  here  this  winter  with 
the  members  of  Congress,  their  husbands  and  relatives,  will 
contribute  to  calm  the  angry  and  excited  passions,  and  to  smooth 
and  soften  our  ways.  .  .  ." 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  VII,  p.  439. 


160  HE^EY  CLAY 

resign.1  u  A.  relaxation  from  public  duties  was  in 
dispensable  and  he  must  go  home  and  die  or  get 
better.  His  disorder,"  Adams  continued,  u  is  a 
general  decay  of  the  vital  powers,  a  paralytic  tor 
pidity  and  numbness,  which  began  at  the  lower  ex 
tremity  of  his  left  limb,  and  from  the  foot  has  grad 
ually  risen  up  the  leg  and  now  approaches  the  hip." 
One  day  Judge  Southard  called  upon  the  President 
and  said  that  Clay  could  scarcely  be  expected  to 
live  a  month  longer.  Mr.  Adams  heard  every  sug 
gestion  of  resignation  with  real  pain  and  regret, 
being  not  at  all  disposed  to  go  on  with  his  adminis 
tration  without  his  Secretary  of  State.  A  doctor 
told  the  President  that  the  trouble  was  nervous,  not 
paralytic,  and  Clay  continued  to  attend  to  his  many 
duties  with  regularity,  though  he  went  to  Philadel 
phia  for  a  time  to  consult  with  and  live  under  the 
care  of  some  of  the  eminent  physicians  in  that  city. 
He  told  Adams,  however,  that  "  he  had  little  hope 
of  surviving,  and  had  so  made  up  his  mind  as  to  set 
little  value  upon  life."2 

His  domestic  afflictions  bore  heavily  upon  his 
spirit  and  its  buoyancy  might  have  been  expected 
almost  to  desert  him  for  reasons  quite  apart  from 
his  physical  condition.  In  the  space  of  a  year  or 
two  he  lost  by  death  two  of  his  daughters,  including 
the  beloved  Mrs.  Duralde  of  New  Orleans.  Indeed, 
but  one  now  remained.  A  sou  was  insane  and 
another  had  misconducted  himself  so  grievously  as 
to  cause  his  parents  much  pain.3  For  several  weeks 

^Memoirs,  Vol.  VII,    p.  517. 

2 Ibid.,  p.  521;  also  Mrs.  Smith,   First  Forty  Years  of  Wash 
ington  Society,  pp.  256-257,  276. 
3  Mrs.  Smith,  p.  303. 


SECRETABY  OF  STATE  161 

he  was  wholly  unable  to  sleep  except  by  the  use  of 
anodynes,1  yet  at  "  drawing  rooms"  he  still  kepi  on 
"  the  mask  of  smiles"  2  with  a  bravery  which  greatly 
increased  the  admiration  of  his  friends.  Mrs.  Smith 
wrote  on  February  16,  1829  : 

"  I  never  liked  Mr.  Clay  so  well  as  I  do  this 
winter  ;  the  coldness  and  hauteur  of  his  manner  have 
vanished,  and  a  softness  and  tenderness  and  sadness 
characterize  him  (to  me  at  least),  for  I  know  not 
how  it  is  in  general  society — that  is  extremely  at 
taching  and  affecting — at  the  same  time  perfect  good 
humor ;  no  bitterness  mingles  its  gall  in  the  cup  of 
disappointment.  • ' 

Mrs.  Clay  also  was  ill,  and,  while  sharing  her 
husband's  domestic  sorrows,  at  "  the  last  drawing- 
room"  of  the  Adams  administration,  "she  re 
ceived  all  with  smiling  politeness."  Mr.  Clay  too 
concealed  his  feelings.  He  "  looked  gay  and  was 
so  courteous  and  gracious  and  agreeable  that  every 
one  remarked  it."  He  was  determined,  he  said, 
that  u  we  should  regret  him"  when  he  had  gone. 
"  My  heart  filled  to  overflowing,"  Mrs.  Smith  con 
tinues,  "as  I  watched  this  acting,  and  to  conceal  tears 
which  I  could  not  repress,  took  a  seat  in  a  corner 
by  the  fire,  behind  a  solid  mass  of  people."  There 
Mr.  Clay  sought  her  out  and  she  spoke  of  her  sad 
ness  on  losing  her  friend,  Mrs.  Clay.  "For  a 
moment  he  held  my  hand,  pressed  in  his,  without 
speaking,  his  eyes  filled  with  tears  and  with  an 
effort  he  said  :  i  We  must  not  think  of  this  or  talk 
of  such  things  now,'  and  relinquishing  my  hand 

1  Mrs.  Smith,  pp.  277,  303.  » Ibid'.,  p.  259, 

3 Ibid.,  p.  276. 


162  HENRY  CLAY 

drew  out  his  handkerchief,  turned  away  his  head 
and  wiped  his  eyes,  then  pushed  into  the  crowd 
and  talked  and  smiled  as  if  his  heart  was  light  and 
easy.  Alas,  I  knew,  what  perhaps  no  other  among 
these  hundreds  knew,  that  anguish,  heartrending 
anguish,  was  concealed  beneath  that  smiling,  cheer 
ful  countenance,  and  that  the  animation  and  spirits 
which  charmed  an  admiring  circle  were  wholly  arti 
ficial."  l 

Mr.  Clay  was  not  abandoned  by  his  friends,  but 
they  seemed  fewer.  They  were  being  overwhelmed 
in  numbers  by  the  Jacksonians  who  descended  upo  j 
everything  like  the  flies  and  locusts  of  Egypt,  and 
with  about  as  much  benevolent  purpose  in  the  view 
of  Adams,  Clay  and  those  who  shared  their  opinions. 
There  were  dinners  tendered  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  by  his  admirers,  as  he  went  back  and  forth 
between  Washington  and  Kentucky  ;  on  such  oc 
casions,  he  was  nearly  always  called  upon  to  rebut 
aspersion  and  calumny  directed  against  himself  and 
the  administration.  At  a  public,  dinner  in  Frazer's 
Tavern  at  Lewisburg,  Va.,  on  August  30,  182(1, 
Mr.  Clay  responded  to  the  toast  : 

"  Our  distinguished  guest,  Henry  Clay — the  states 
man,  orator,  patriot  and  philanthropist ;  his  splen 
did  talents  shed  lustre  on  his  native  state,  his  elo 
quence  is  an  ornament  to  his  country." 

He  again  roundly  defended  himself  and  Mr. 
Adams.  UA  spirit  of  denunciation  is  abroad," 
said  he.  "With  some  condemnation,  right  or 
wrong,  is  the  order  of  the  day.  Xo  matter  what 
prudence  and  wisdom  may  stamp  the  measures  of 
1  Mrs.  Smith,  p.  278. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  163 

the  administration  ;  no  matter  how  much  the  pros 
perity  of  the  country  may  be  advanced,  or  what 
public  evils  may  be  averted,  under  its  guidance, 
there  are  persons  who  would  make  general,  indis 
criminate  and  interminable  opposition. ' ' l 

Even  in  Kentucky,  where  they  had  earlier  been 
so  faithful  to  their  "  Great  Hal,"  influences  were  at 
work  which  swept  the  state  for  Jackson  in  1828. 
Amos  Kendall  was  leading  a  movement  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  "bargain,"  holding,  as  Adams  called  it, 
"a  self -constituted  court  of  inquisition"  in  the 
legislature.  In  Lexington  on  July  12,  1827,  Clay 
responded  to  the  toast : 

u  Our  distinguished  guest,  Henry  Clay:  the 
furnace  of  persecution  may  be  heated  seven  times 
hotter  and  seventy  times  more  he  will  come  out  un 
scathed  by  the  fire  of  malignity,  brighter  to  all  and 
dearer  to  his  friends  ;  while  his  enemies  shall  sink 
with  the  dross  of  their  own  vile  materials." 

This  toast  drew  forth  a  spirited  and  fervid  speech. 
Jackson  himself  had  now  come  out  into  the  open, 
and  had  made  himself  the  sponsor  for  the  accusation. 
It  demanded  and  received  at  Clay's  hands  complete 
denial,  as  it  did  again  on  August  23,  1828,  at 
Cincinnati,  through  which  city  he  passed  on  his  way 
to  Washington. 

The  temptation  to  reply  to  Jackson  in  kind  must 
have  been  great,  but  Mr.  Clay  maintained  his 
dignity  of  utterance,  and  charged  the  general  with 
nothing  more  than  inexperience  in  civil  pursuits 
and  unfitness  for  the  office  which  he  strove  to 
obtain.  At  Lexington,  Mr.  Clay  said:  u  At  this 
1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  325. 


164  HENRY  CLAY 

early  period  of  the  republic,  keeping  steadily  ia 
view  the  dangers  which  had  overturned  every 
other  free  state,  I  believed  it  to  be  essential  U 
the  lasting  preservation  of  our  liberties,  that  a 
man  devoid  of  civil  talents,  and  offering  no  recon  - 
mendation  but  one  founded  on  military  service, 
should  not  be  selected  to  administer  the  government . 

I  believe  so  yet  j  and  I  shall  consider  the  days  o  r' 
the   commonwealth   numbered   when    an    opposite 
principle  is  established.     ...     I  have,  as  your 
representative,   freely   examined,    and,    in   my  de 
liberate  judgment,  justly  condemned   the  conduct 
of  General  Jackson  in  some  of  our  Indian  wars.     I 
believed,    and   yet  believe  him,  to  have  trampled 
upon  the  Constitution  of  his  country,  and  to  have 
violated  the  princi^jles  of  humanity.     Entertaining 
these  opinions,  I  did  not  and  could  not  vote  for  him."  ' 

In  Baltimore,  on  May  13,  1828,  Mr.  Clay  made  n. 
speech  upon  the  danger  of  a  military  spirit  in  a 
republic.  In  this  address  Jackson's  name  was  not 
mentioned,  but  he  called  the  Republican  party  away 
from  its  false  gods,  and  appealed  to  it  to  return  to 
its  view  "that  liberty  and  the  predominance  of  the 
military  principle  were  utterly  incompatible.-' 

II  If  indeed  we  have  incurred  the  Divine  displeasure 
and  it  be  necessary  to  chastise  this  people  with  the 
rod  of  vengeance,  I  would  humbly  prostrate  myself 
before   Him   and   implore   His   mercy  to  visit  our 
favored  land  with  war,  with  pestilence,  with  famine, 
with   every  scourge  other  than  military  rule,  or  a 
blind  and  heedless  enthusiasm    for   mere  military 
renown." 

1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  355. 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  165 

These  estimates  of  Jacksou,  although  Clay  was 
the  leading  victim  of  his  unjust  spleen,  were  mild 
in  comparison  with  those  which  were  expressed  by 
others  concerning  the  < '  chieftain  "  ;  for  example,  by 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  President  Adams.  In  1824, 
the  old  seer  of  "Monticello"  said  to  Daniel 
Webster  :  "I  feel  much  alarmed  at  the  prospect 
of  seeing  General  Jackson  President.  He  is  one  of 
the  most  unfit  men  I  know  of  for  such  a  place.  He 
has  had  very  little  respect  for  laws  or  constitutions, 
though  an  able  military  chief.  His  passions  are 
terrible.  When  I  was  President  of  the  Senate  he 
was  a  senator  [during  1797  in  Philadelphia,  when 
Jefferson  was  Vice -President  of  the  United  States, 
and  Jackson  was  for  a  short  time  a  senator  from  the 
new  state  of  Tennessee]  and  he  could  never  speak 
on  account  of  the  rashness  of  his  feelings.  I  have 
seen  him  attempt  it  repeatedly,  and  as  often  choke 
with  rage.  His  passions  are  no  doubt  cooler  now, 
for  he  has  been  much  tried  since  I  knew  him.  But 
he  is  a  dangerous  man."  l 

Adams  wrote  of  Jackson  in  his  diary  in  December, 
1827  :  "He  is  incompetent  both  by  his  ignorance 
and  by  the  fury  of  his  passions.  He  will  be  sur 
rounded  and  governed  by  incompetent  men  whose 
ascendency  over  him  will  be  secured  by  their 
servility,  and  who  will  bring  to  the  government 
nothing  but  their  talent  for  intrigue."  Adams 
predicted  that  they  would  soon  "go  to  wreck  and 
ruin,"  when  there  would  come  "the  recoil  of  public 
opinion  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay."  "If  human  nature 
has  not  changed  its  character,"  he  continued, 
,  » Col  ton,  Vol.  V,  p.  300. 


166  HENKY  CLAY 

"Kentucky  and  the  Union  will  then  do  justice  to 
him  and  to  his  slanderers."  l 

In  spite  of  these,  as  they  would  seem,  insuperable 
objections  to  Jackson  as  President,  his  strength  in 
creased,  and  in  the  election  of  1828  he  was  over 
whelmingly  the  choice  of  the  people.  The  u  old 
hero"  of  New  Orleans  had  been  done  out  of  liis 
honors  and  dues  in  1824,  and  he  must  have  them 
now.  He  received  178  electoral  votes  against  only 
83  for  Adams,  whose  total  was  principally  made  up 
from  the  New  England  states,  New  York,  New 
Jersey  and  Delaware.  Not  a  single  vote  came  to 
him  from  states  south  of  the  Potomac  or  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  It  was  a  protest  in  the  popular  belief 
against  an  "extravagant,  corrupt,  aristocratic, 
Federalist  administration,"  2  as  Jefferson's  election 
had  been  a  protest  against  the  same  things,  as  they 
were  represented  by  the  eider  Adams.  At  Jack 
son's  inauguration  in  March,  1829,  the  ex-President 
must  slink  back  to  his  home  in  much  the  same  way 
as  his  father,  the  "  Duke  of  Braintree."  He  was  a 
monarchist,  his  sympathies  were  English  and  there 
was  no  place  for  him  in  the  affections  of  a  demo 
cratic  people. 

As  the  Adams  administration  drew  to  a  close,  and 
Jackson  and  his  friend  Eaton,  with  the  notorious 
Peggy  O'Neill,  and  others  connected  with  the  new 
government,  came  in  to  usurp  the  places  which  had 
been  so  acceptably  and  gracefully  held  in  Washing 
ton  society  by  the  representatives  of  old  American 
families,  it  seemed  to  the  people  resident  there  liltle 
short  of  final  catastrophe.  They  were  looked  upon 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  VII,  p.  383.         2  Simmer,  Jackson,  p.  118. 


SECKETARY  OF  STATE  167 

as  Goths  and  Vandals  conie  down  upon  Rome. 
Farewells  were  said,  homes  broken  up,  friendly 
ties  severed,  perhaps  forever.  There  was  but  ill- 
suppressed  comment  upon  Mrs.  Jackson  and  the 
pipe  which  she  was  believed  to  smoke  ;  upon  the  gay 
tavern-keeper's  daughter  who  as  a  cabinet  lady  was 
to  be  a  candidate  for  a  place  at  dinner-tables,  and 
upon  other  socially  outre  prospects.  The  general 
gloom  is  depicted  in  Mrs.  Smith's  interesting  letters. 
Mrs.  Clay,  no  less  than  Mr.  Clay,  was  among  the 
most  beloved  of  Washington  social  figures,  and  the 
packing  of  their  furniture  and  contemplated  going 
was  to  their  friends  a  most  unhappy  leave -taking. 
11  What  a  change,  what  a  change  will  there  be  in  the 
city,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Smith.  "  On  no  former  oc 
casion  has  there  been  anything  like  it."  1  "  Every 
one  of  the  public  men  who  will  retire  from  office  on 
the  4th  of  March  will  return  to  private  life,"  she 
thought,  "with  blasted  hopes,  injured  health,  im 
paired  or  ruined  fortunes,  embittered  tempers  and 
probably  a  total  inability  to  enjoy  the  remnant  of 
their  lives."  Kever  did  she  witness  "such  a  gloomy 
time  in  Washington."  "Every  individual  con 
nected  with  the  government  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  clerk  "  was  filled  with  apprehension,  and  well 
might  he  be,  for  Jackson  was  to  introduce  tin- 
"  spoils  system,"  entirely  new  to  our  politics.  Men 
were  to  be  "proscribed"  for  their  political  views. 
"There  is  not  at  Cairo  to  Constantinople,"  said 
Clay,  "a  greater  moral  despotism  than  is  at  this 
moment  exercised  in  this  city  over  public  opinion. 
Why  a  man  dare  not  avow  what  he  thinks  or  feels, 
1  First  Forty  Years  of  Washington  Society,  p.  258. 


168  :  HEATRY  CLAY 

or  shake  hands  with  a  personal  friend,  if  he  hap 
pens  to  differ  from  the  powers  that  be."  l 

u  The  sun  of  iny  political  life,"  said  John  Quincy 
Adanis,  "sets  in  the  deepest  gloom."  Three  days 
before  the  inauguration  of  his  successor  he  was  in 
somewhat  better  cheer.  He  went  into  retirement, 
he  said,  "  with  a  combination  of  parties  aud  of 
public  men  against  my  character  and  reputation, 
such  as  I  believe  never  before  was  exhibited  against 
any  man  since  the  Union  existed"  ;  but,  he  con 
tinued,  u  passion  and  ignorance,  envy  and  jealousy 
will  pass.  The  cause  of  the  Union  and  of  improve 
ment  will  remain,  and  I  have  duties  to  it  and  to  my 
country  yet  to  discharge." 

The  incoming  did  not  call  upon  the  outgoing 
President,  it  was  said  because  of  his  fear  of  meeting 
the  great  Kentucky  leader,  while  in  the  act  of  per 
forming  this  courtesy.  On  March  12th,  Clay,  who 
had  arranged  to  leave  Washington  a  little  before 
the  President,  said  his  farewells  to  the  Adamses  in 
a  house  to  which  they  had  removed.  The  next  day 
he  started  for  Lexington  by  way  of  Baltimore,  see 
ing  on  the  journey  north  from  his  carriage  in  Penn 
sylvania  Avenue  the  ex-President,  when  "a  last 
salutation  "  was  exchanged.  Mr.  Adams  remained, 
as  he  said,  "a  silent  observer  of  passing  events," 
and  delayed  his  departure  until  June  when  it 
was  effected,  as  was  that  of  all  the  members  of  his 
administration,  without  expressions  of  official  re 
gret.  Clay  accepted  the  result  with  as  much  resigrm  - 
tion  as  possible.  "  The  military  principle  has 

1  Mrs.  Smith,  First  Forty  Years,  p.  30. 
9  Memoirs,  Vol.  II,  p.  102. 


SECBETAKY  OF  STATE  169 

triumphed,"  he  said,  in  a  letter  to  Mies  of  the 
Register,1  u  and  triumphed  in  the  person  of  one 
devoid  of  all  the  graces,  elegances,  and  magnanimity 
of  the  accomplished  men  of  the  profession. ' ' 

Clay,  after  Jackson's  election,  had  been  oifered  a 
place  on  the  Supreme  Bench  by  President  Adams, 
but  the  appointment  was  declined.2  His  friends  in 
Washington  banded  together  to  give  him  a  dinner 
on  March  7th.  In  his  speech  on  this  occasion  he 
abated  nothing  of  his  faith  in  regard  to  General 
Jackson.  He  bowed  to  the  will  of  the  people.  "  I 
may,  nevertheless,  be  allowed  to  retain  and  express 
my  own  unchanged  sentiments,"  he  added,  "  even 
if  they  should  "not  be  in  perfect  coincidence  with 
theirs.  ...  I  deprecated  the  election  of  the 
present  President  of  the  United  States  because  I  be 
lieved  he  had  neither  the  temper,  the  experience, 
nor  the  attainments  requisite  to  discharge  the  com 
plicated  and  arduous  duties  of  Chief  Magistrate.  I 
deprecated  it  still  more,  because  his  elevation,  I  be 
lieved,  would  be  the  result  exclusively  of  admiration 
and  gratitude  for  military  service,  without  regard 
to  indispensable  civil  qualifications.  I  can  neither 
retract,  nor  modify  any  opinion  which  on  these  sub 
jects  I  have  at  any  time  heretofore  expressed. 
.  .  .  It  is  remarkable  that  at  this  epoch,  at  the 
head  of  eight  of  the  nine  independent  governments 
established  in  both  Americas,  military  officers  have 
been  placed,  or  have  placed  themselves. 
The  thunders  from  the  surrounding  forts,  and  the 
acclamations  of  the  assembled  multitude  on  the  4th 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  213. 
1  Memoirs,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  78. 


170  HENRY  CLAY 

told  us  what  general  was  at  the  head  of  our  affairs. 
It  is  true,  and  in  this  respect  we  are  happier  than 
some  of  the  American  states,  that  his  election  has 
not  been  brought  about  by  military  violence.  The 
forms  of  the  Constitution  have  yet  remained  invio 
late."  Clay  was  not  without  hope  which  he  would 
express  sincerely,  but  he  said,  "  I  make  no  pledges, 
no  promises,  no  threats,  and  I  must  add  I  have  no 
confidence." 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  speech^he  requested  per 
mission  to  propose  a  toast  : 

"  Let  us  never  despair  of  the  American  Kepub- 
lic." 

The  return  home  was  accomplished  only  slowly. 
It  was  in  the  nature  of  a  "  triumphal  journey."  ' 
Clay  wrote  to  his  friend,  J.  S.  Johnston,  from 
Wheeling,  on  April  1st:  u  My  journey  has  been 
marked  by  every  token  of  warm  attachment  and 
cordial  demonstrations.  I  never  experienced  more 
testimonies  of  respect  and  confidence,  nor  more  en 
thusiasm.  Dinners,  suppers,  balls,  etc.  I  have 
had  literally  a  free  passage.  Taverns,  stages,  toll- 
gates,  have  been  thrown  open  to  me  free  from  all 
charge.  Mouarchs  might  be  proud  of  the  reception 
with  which  I  have  everywhere  been  honored." 

[u  Lexington  three  thousand  sat  down  at  Fowler's 
Garden,  at  a  great  barbecue,  given  in  his  honor,  in 
true  Kentucky  fashion,  on  May  16,  1829.  Long 
tables  were  spread  under  the  trees  and  huge  roasts 
of  beef  and  saddles  of  mutton  were  served  with  the 
accompanying  punch.  The  meat  was  cooked  over 
coals  in  deep  trenches,  and  the  carving  was  done  by 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  229.  *  Ibid.,  p.  226. 


SECKETAKY  OF  STATE  171 

young  men  who  were  very  proud  of  their  skill. 
This  dinner  was  an  opportunity  for  Mr.  Clay  to 
speak  of  the  condition  of  the  roads,  always  upon  his 
mind.  So  deep  was  the  inire,  that  it  had  taken 
nearly  four  days  in  April  for  him  and  his  family  to 
travel  sixty-four  miles  over  one  of  the  most  used 
highways  in  Kentucky. 

His  coming  was  awaited  with  suggestions  that  he 
should  be  reflected  to  Congress  from  his  old  dis 
trict,  or  that  he  should  be  given  a  seat  in  the  state 
legislature.  He  said  that  he  wished  repose,  both 
on  account  of  his  enfeebled  health,  and  the  condition 
of  his  private  affairs  :  "Upon  my  return  home/' 
he  continued,  ' '  I  found  my  house  out  of  repair,  my 
farm  not  in  order,  the  fences  down,  the  stock  poor, 
the  crop  not  set  and  late  in  April  the  corn-stalks  of 
the  year's  growth  yet  standing  in  the  field."  He 
desired  "  retirement,  unqualified  retirement  from 
all  public  employment"  ;  and  this  he  was  now  for 
a  little  while  to  enjoy. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

JOLLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE 

IF  Henry  Clay  sincerely  believed  that  he  would 
enjoy  the  quiet  life  of  his  neglected  farm  for  any 
great  length  of  time  after  his  experiences  in  larger 
fields,  or  -that  the  people  would  permit  him  to  end 
his  career  in  retirement,  he  erred  seriously.  For  a 
while  he  occupied  himself  busily,  however,  with 
affairs  at  "  Ashland."  The  planting- season  was  at 
hand  for  corn,  hemp  aud  other  crops  profitable  in 
the  blue  grass  region  of  Kentucky.  He  purchased 
in  Washington  County,  Fa.,  fifty  full-blooded 
Merino  ewes,  selected  from  one  of  the  finest  flocks 
in  the  country.  They  were  driven  to  "  Ashland'' 
and  put  out  to  pasture.  Other  species  of  blooded 
stock  were  added  to  those  already  on  the  farm  and 
with  the  help  of  Mrs.  Clay,  always  intelligently  de 
voted  to  the  dairy  and  allied  interests,  he  soon 
brought  into  order  the  estate  which  had  suffered  so 
much  during  his  long  absences.  He  also  took  some 
legal  cases  and  defended  at  considerable  trouble  to 
himself  a  young  man  named  Wickliffe,  accused  of 
murder,  whereby  he  increased  his  popularity  in 
Kentucky,  among  classes  of  the  people  who  had  ex 
changed  his  leadership  for  that  of  General  Jackson. 
Indeed,  Mr.  Clay  soon  came  to  believe  that  the  an 
tagonism  displayed  in  the  election  of  1828  was  di 
rected  against  Mr.  Adams  rather  than  himself.1 

*To  Francis  Brooke,  Private  Correspondence,  p.  242. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    173 

This  impression  seemed  to  be  confirmed  by  a  tour 
through  the  state,  which  was  "  full  of  gratification." 
He  wrote  his  friend,  J.  S.  Johnston  :  "  Every  sort 
of  enthusiastic  demonstration  of  friendship  and  at 
tachment  on  the  part  of  the  people  was  made  toward 
me.  Barbecues,  dinners,  balls,  etc.,  etc.,  without 
number."  He  thought  that  "the  men  and  the 
women,  too,  would  devour  "  him.  He  was  obliged 
"  to  speak  often  and  long."  At  Eussellville  at  least 
3,000  persons  assembled,  and  an  audience  not  smaller 
in  size  heard  him  at  Hopkinsville.  His  addresses, 
he  said,  were  "  never  better  received  by  all  parties, 
nor  were  they  ever  more  satisfactory  ' '  to  Mr.  Clay 
himself.  At  that  moment  he  entertained  "  not  a 
particle  of  doubt  of  there  being  ...  a  decided 
majority  for  me  against  all  and  every  person  what 
ever."  l 

Clay  was  now  very  clearly  the  leader  of  a  new  po 
litical  party.  It  had  been  in  process  of  formation 
for  many  years.  He  and  his  followers  were  called 
"war-hawks"  during  the  War  of  1812,  then 
Young  Republicans  and  now,  arraying  themselves 
against  Jackson,  they  were  to  be  National  Republi 
cans,  or  Whigs.  They  were  not  willing  to  grant 
that  the  Jackson  men  who  took  the  name  Demo 
cratic  were  the  legitimate  heirs  to  the  Jeffersouians, 
but  on  the  constitutional  question  this  becomes  the 
verdict  of  history.  One  abiding  hate,  above  all 
others,  now  filled  Jackson's  implacable  mind,  and  it 
had  for  its  particular  object  Henry  Clay.  Men 
were  chosen  for  the  cabinet,  not  for  their  statesman 
like  abilities,  but  because  they  could  talk  glibly  of 
1  Ibid.,  p.  244. 


174  HENEY  CLAY 

the  ' 'corrupt  bargain. "  !  Postmasters  and  collect 
ors  were  dismissed  from  office  and  replaced  by 
Jackson  men,  because  they  had  once  been,  and  now 
still  dared  to  be  friends  of  Clay.  He  called  it  "  pro 
scription'7  and  "  moral  despotism.7'  It  was  noth 
ing  at  all  but  that  mischievous  and  offensive  system 
which  from  this  time  on  became  firmly  entrenched 
in  our  politics  as  the  "  spoils  system." 

To  Jackson  it  was  not  so  much  a  recognition  of 
nuy  vulgar  principle  as  a  natural  outgrowth  of  a 
distinctly  military  temperament.  In  war  it  was  his 
policy  to  quell  all  opposition  by  whatever  means. 
He  carried  this  idea  into  politics  and  now,  as  here 
after,  to  the  end  of  his  public  career,  it  was  his  policy 
to  meet  every  one  who  obstructed  his  pathway  as 
though  he  were  a  public  enemy— often,  indeed,  as 
though  he  were  an  outlaw,  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
accepted  rules  of  war. 

Jackson  had  taken  care  that  the  Secretary  of  State 
should  be  set  out  of  his  office  upon  the  exact  stroke 
of  the  clock,  which  announced  the  end  of  the  Adams 
administration.  Before  his  departure  from  Wash 
ington,  Clay  had  denounced  the  policy  of  dismissing 
faithful  old  government  servants  for  political  rea 
sons,  and  he  always  condemned  in  unmeasured  terms 
the  administration  of  Jackson  for  this  practice,  so 
unheard  of  in  American  public  life  up  to  that  time. 
In  the  excellent  speech  at  the  dinner  tendered  him 
by  his  friends  in  Lexington,  on  May  16,  1829,  he 
continued  his  criticisms  of  the  President  by  reason 
of  this  course.  He  declared  it  to  be  monarchical. 
"The  great  difference  between  the  two  forms  of 
1Schurz,  Vol.  I,  p.  337. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    175 

government  [the  monarchy  and  the  republic],"  said 
he,  "  is  that  in  a  republic  all  power  and  authority, 
and  all  public  offices  and  honors  emanate  from  the 
people,  and  are  exercised  and  held  for  their  benefit. 
In  a  monarchy,  all  power  and  authority,  all  offices 
and  honors  proceed  from  the  monarch.  His  inter 
ests,  his  caprices  and  his  passions  influence  and  con 
trol  the  destinies  of  the  kingdom.  In  a  republic 
the  people  are  everything,  and  a  particular  individ 
ual  nothing.  In  a  monarchy,  the  monarch  is  every 
thing,  and  the  people  nothing." 

It  had  been  objected  to  the  late  administration, 
by  Jackson  himself,  that  it  had  adopted  and  en 
forced  a  system  of  proscription,  yet  "  during  the 
whole  period  of  it,"  said  Clay,  "not  a  solitary  of 
ficer  of  the  government  from  Maine  to  Louisiana 
within  my  knowledge  was  dismissed  on  account  of 
his  political  opinions."  The  six  Presidents  preced 
ing  Jackson,  the  first  six  in  the  republic's  history, 
had  in  their  forty  years  made  only  seventy-four  re 
movals,  and  practically  all  these  removals  were  for 
good  and  sufficient  cause.  The  "  old  hero"  had 
already  very  far  exceeded  this  total,  for  reasons  that 
were  wholly  personal  and  partisan,  and  the  entire 
civil  service  was  in  a  state  of  disorganization,  un 
certainty  and  fear,  knowing  that  more  dismissals 
were  in  near  prospect.  In  the  first  year  of  Jackson's 
administration  the  number  of  changes  exceeded 


The  President's  "  tremendous  power  of  dismis 
sion,"  Clay  continued  at  Lexington,  was  intended 
"to  be  exercised  for  the  public  good  and  not  to 

1Sohnrz,  Vol.  I,  p.  334. 


176  HEA'HY  CLAY 

gratify  any  private  passions  or  purposes."  He 
preferred,  to  remain  silent  when  he  did  not  approve 
the  acts  and  measures  of  the  administration,  but 
he  could  not  do  so.  "Hitherto,"  said  he,  "the 
uniform  practice  of  the  government  has  been,  where 
charges  are  preferred  against  public  officers,  foreign 
or  domestic,  to  transmit  to  them  a  copy  of  the 
charges  for  the  purpose  of  refutation  or  explanation. 
This  has  been  considered  an  equitable  substitute  to 
the  more  tedious  and  formal  trials  before  judicial 
tribunals.  But  now  persons  are  dismissed  not  onl}r 
without  trial  of  any  sort,  but  without  charge.  And 
as  if  the  intention  were  to  defy  public  opinion,  and 
to  give  to  the  acts  of  power  a  higher  degree  of  enor 
mity,  in  some  instances,  the  persons  dismissed  have 
carried  with  them  in  their  pockets  the  strongest 
testimonials  to  their  ability  and  integrity,  furnished 
by  the  very  instruments  employed  to  execute  the  pur 
poses  of  oppression.  .  .  .  To  be  dismissed  without 
fault  and  without  trial ;  to  be  expelled,  with  their 
families  without  the  means  of  support  and,  in  some 
instances,  disqualified  by  age,  or  by  official  habits 
from  the  pursuit  of  any  other  business,  and  all  this 
to  be  done  upon  the  will  of  one  man,  in  a  free  gov 
ernment  is  surely  intolerable  oppression.  .  .  . 
According  to  the  principles  now  avowed  and  prac 
ticed,  all  offices,  vacant  and  filled,  within  the  com 
pass  of  the  executive  power,  are  to  be  allotted  among 
the  partisans  of  the  successful  candidate.  .  . 
The  consequence  of  these  principles  would  be  to 
convert  the  nation  into  one  perpetual  theatre  for 
political  gladiators.  There  would  be  one  universal 
scramble  for  the  public  offices.  .  .  .  Congress 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    177 

corrupted  arid  the  press  corrupted,  general  corrup 
tion  would  ensue,  until  the  substance  of  free  govern 
ment  having  disappeared,  some  pretoriau  band 
would  arise,  and  with  the  general  concurrence  of  a 
distracted  people  put  an  end  to  useless  forms."  * 

Clay  felt  very  strongly  upon  this  subject,  and  ex 
pressed  himself  with  an  earnest  eloquence  worthy 
of  exerting  greater  influence  upon  the  people,  whom 
the  " military  chieftain,"  however,  seemed  to  have  in 
his  complete  control,  no  matter  how  grave  his  offense 
against  constitutional  traditions.  The  opposition 
leader  in  his  retreat  at  "  Ashland  "  was  in  constant 
communication  by  correspondence  with  his  friends, 
and  he  had  the  opportunity  to  continue  his  arraign 
ment  of  Jackson's  assaults  upon  the  civil  service 
while  out  on  his  speaking  tours. 

After  he  had  returned  from  his  triumphal  journey 
through  the  state,  he  projected  a  trip  down  the 
Mississippi.  He  left  "  Ashland  "in  the  middle  of 
January,  going  directly  to  New  Orleans  to  visit  the 
bereaved  home  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Duralde,  who, 
it  will  be  remembered,  died  while  he  was  Secretary 
of  State.  He  remained  for  a  few  weeks,  making  ex 
cursions,  hither  and  thither,  to  adjoining  planta 
tions.  His  reception  was  cordial.  When  he  unex 
pectedly  attended  the  legislature,  Speaker  and  all, 
without  distinction  of  party,  rose  to  receive  him. 
He  was  invited  to  public  dinners  at  Memphis, 
Vicksburg,  Port  Gibson,  Natchez  and  Baton  Rouge, 
but  he  declined  all  tendered  entertainments  except 
that  at  Natchez,  which  place  he  took  on  his  way 
home  in  March.  Upon  leaving  New  Orleans  for 

1  Col  ton,  Vol.  V,  p.  375  et  seq. 


178  HENEY  CLAY 

Mississippi,  an  immense  concourse  of  people  assem 
bled  to  witness  his  departure.  The  banks  of  the 
levee,  and  the  tops  of  steamboats  and  houses  were 
completely  covered  by  the  cheering  multitude. 
Cannon  were  tired,  and  banners  and  handkerchiefs 
were  waved  to  bid  him  adieu.  At  Natchez  a  crowd 
pressed  into  the  boat,  almost  weighing  it  down.  At 
the  dinner  and  ball  with  which  he  was  honored,  both 
parties  "vied  with  each  other  in  their  testimonies 
of  respect."  He  was  at  home  again  before  the  first 
of  April,  certain  of  his  early  reinstatement  in  the 
public  affections.  "  I  have  almost  daily  proofs  of 
the  general  conviction  which  prevails  of  my  having 
been  wronged,"  he  wrote  from  "  Ashland  "  on  April 
17,  1830,1  "and  I  have  full  confidence  that  my 
fellow  citizens  will  ultimately  render  me  perfect 
justice.  .  .  .  Everywhere  I  was  received  with 
warmth  and  cordiality  and  in  some  instances  with 
enthusiasm.  When  the  passions,  lately  so  strongly 
excited,  shall  subside,  and  the  people  come  to  re 
flect  on  the  past,  and  to  reason  upon  the  promises 
made  by  or  for  the  successful  presidential  candi 
date,  and  the  shameful  violation  of  all  of  them  at 
Washington,  they  cannot  fail  to  come  to  right  con 
clusions.  ' ' 

In  spite  of  all  this  he  wrote  a  little  later  to  his 
friend,  Judge  Brooke,  that  he  felt  himself  "more 
and  more  weaned  from  public  affairs.  My  attach 
ment  to  rural  life,"  he  continued,  "every  day  ac 
quires  more  strength,  and  if  it  continues  to  increase 
another  year,  as  it  has  the  last,  I  shall  be  fully  pre 
pared  to  renounce  forever  the  strifes  of  public  life. 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  259. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    179 

My  farm  is  in  fine  order,  and  iny  preparations  for 
the  crop  of  the  present  year  are  in  advance  of  all 
my  neighbors.  I  shall  make  a  better  farmer  than 
statesman.  And  I  find  in  the  business  of  cultiva 
tion,  gardening,  grazing  and  the  rearing  of  the 
various  descriptions  of  domestic  animals  the  most 
agreeable  resources."  l 

Though  great  pressure  was  exerted  to  induce  him 
to  visit  the  North  in  the  summer  of  1830,  he  thought 
that  he  would  be  able  "to  resist  it."  Indeed,  he 
was  "urgently  solicited  to  go  to  almost  every  quar 
ter  of  the  Union."  If  he  were  to  yield  to  these  en 
treaties  he  would  be  "  perpetually  traveling."  He 
did,  however,  heed  a  summons  to  Ohio,  speaking  in 
Cincinnati  and  other  cities  to  vast  assemblages  of 
people  on  the  questions  of  the  hour.  He  could  not 
have  any  but  an  interest,  close  and  continuous,  in 
the  course  of  public  events,  and  the  approach  of 
another  presidential  election  gave  him  and  his 
friends  the  deepest  concern. 

The  issue  which  was  now  very  prominently  to  en 
gage  attention  was  the  tariff.  Of  this  Henry  Clay 
was  everywhere  known  to  be  the  especial  champion. 
He  was  one  of  the  authors  and  principal  advocates 
of  the  laws  of  1816  and  1824.  He  had  coined  the 
phrase,  the  "American  system,"  as  applied  to  the 
protective  policy.  He  was  not  unmindful  of  the 
course  of  affairs  in  reference  to  the  Tariff  of  1828, 
passed  while  he  was  Secretary  of  State,  and  he  was 
first  and  foremost  in  his  denunciation  of  the  spirit 
of  nullification  and  disunion  with  which  South 
Carolina  greeted  this  measure.  The  South  had 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  261.  *lbid.,  p.  271. 


180  HENRY  CLAY 

aided  in  enacting  the  tariff  law  of  1816,  Calhoun 
himself  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  Clay  in 
order  to  secure  its  success.  When  it  was  a  question 
of  raising  the  duties  in  1824,  there  had  been  no 
violent  opposition  from  the  South,  though  the  legis 
lature  of  South  Carolina  had  passed  a  joint  resolu 
tion,  declaring  it  an  unconstitutional  exercise  of 
Federal  power.  Under  the  latter  measure  many 
new  manufactories  were  established,  and  wherever 
these  secured  a  foothold,  they  spread  the  love  of 
protection,  until,  in  1828,  we  find  Webster  and  the 
New  Euglanders,  who  four  years  before  had  most  ve 
hemently  opposed  the  policy,  its  warm  advocates. 
The  woolen  manufacturers  seemed  to  lead  in  the  de 
mand  for  a  further  increase  of  duties,  in  order  to 
make  it  still  more  inconvenient  for  the  British 
weavers  to  sell  their  fabrics  in  America.  Already 
in  1826  there  was  a  loud  cry  for  a  raising  of  the 
wall.  Business  was  said  to  be  in  a  state  of  depres 
sion  from  which  nothing  could  rescue  it  but  govern 
mental  aid.  Congress  would  have  passed  a  bill  in 
1827,  except  for  the  casting  vote  in  the  Senate  of 
Vice-President  Calhoun,  who  had  now  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  protection  was  not  only  inexpedient 
but  also  unconstitutional.  It  was  certain  that  the 
bill  would  be  revived  in  the  following  year. 

The  South  began  to  raise  its  voice  in  a  threat 
ening  way.  The  "  Woolens  Bill,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  adjudged  to  be  an  insult  to  the  American 
people.1  Remonstrances  were  framed  and  adopted 
in  public  meetings  and  sent  to  Congress,  but  the 
wool-growers  and  woolen  manufacturers  of  the  North 
1  McMaster,  Vol.  V,  p.  243  ct  seq. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    181 

were  not  to  be  turned  aside.  They  too  held  meet 
ings  and  the  issue  was  joined  between  two  geo 
graphical  sections  of  the  Union  of  radically  different 
economic  interests.1 

Jackson  earlier  had  been  regarded  as  a  protec 
tionist.  Some  of  his  declarations  seemed  to  mark 
him  as  the  advocate  of  at  least  a  moderate  tariff. 
He  now  wavered  a  little,  but  he  took  no  very  active 
part  in  forwarding  the  interests  of  either  party. 
The  discussion  rapidly  gained  in  bitterness.  Peti 
tions  and  memorials,  remonstrances  and  protests 
poured  into  Congress,  but  in  January,  1828,  the 
committee  was  ready  with  the  bill,  though  it  seems 
to  have  been  generally  thought  that  it  would  not 
pass.  Indeed,  there  was  a  secret  understanding 
to  this  end,  but  the  agreement  was  broken  and  the 
bill  became  a  law.  Its  provisions  pleased  no  one. 
They  were  purposely  made  odious  and  it  was  at 
once  dubbed  "the  tariff  of  abominations,"  or 
"  black  tariff."  2  The  rumblings  in  South  Carolina 
now  became  an  ominous  roar.  The  nullification 
sentiment  there,  with  some  support  from  neighbor 
ing  states,  assumed  a  definite  form,  and  definite  ex 
pression  of  it  reached  the  nation  through  Calhoun 
in  his  famous  "  Exposition  of  1828."  3 

Clay  had  entered  the  discussion  in  the  speech  de 
livered  at  Cincinnati,  on  August  23,  1828,  on  his 
way  back  to  Washington,  after  a  few  weeks'  visit 
to  "  Ashland."  He  defended  the  new  tariff  law  as 
"  but  the  consequences  of  the  policy  "  earlier  begun 
in  reference  to  the  establishment  of  the  "  American 

'See  Hunt,  Calhoun.  *  McMaster,  Vol.  V,  p.  255. 

z  Ibid.,  Vol.  V,  p.  255  et  seq.  ;  Hunt,  Calhoun,  p.  71  et  seq. 


182  HENBY  CLAY 

system."  The  sole  object  now  was  "the  improve 
ment  and  perfection  of  the  great  work."  It  was  to 
Calhoun  that  he  directly  alluded  when  he  said : 
"  It  is  not  the  least  remarkable  of  the  circumstances 
of  these  strange  times  that  some  who  assisted  in  the 
commencement,  who  laid  corner-stones  of  the 
edifice,  are  now  ready  to  pull  down  and  demolish 
it." 

As  to  the  policy  of  South  Carolina,  he  said  :  "It 
amounts  to  this  :  that  whenever  any  portion  of  the 
community  finds  itself  in  a  minority  in  reference  to 
any  important  act  of  the  government,  and  by  high 
coloring  and  pictures  of  imaginary  distress  can 
persuade  itself  that  the  measure  is  oppressive,  that 
minority  may  appeal  to  arms,  and,  if  it  can,  dis 
solve  the  Union.  Such  a  principle  would  reverse 
the  established  maxim  of  representative  government, 
according  to  which  the  will  of  the  majority  must 
prevail.  If  it  were  possible  that  the  minority  could 
govern  and  control,  the  Union  may  indeed  as  well 
be  dissolved  ;  for  it  would  not  then  be  worth  pre 
serving.  The  conduct  of  an  individual  could  not 
be  more  unwise  and  suicidal  who,  because  of  some 
trifling  disease  aifecting  his  person,  should,  in  a 
feverish  and  fretful  moment,  resolve  to  terminate 
his  existence." 

But  he  did  not  believe  that  there  was  reason  to 
apprehend  "  the  execution  of  these  empty  threats. 
The  good  sense,  the  patriotism,  and  the  high  char 
acter  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  are  sure  guar 
antees  for  repressing  without  aid  any  disorders, 
should  any  be  attempted  within  her  limits.  The 
spirit  of  Marion  and  Pickens  and  Sumter,  of  the 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE     183 

Rutledges,  the  Piuckneys  and  of  Lowudes  yet 
survives  and  animates  the  high-minded  Carolinians. 
The  Taylors  and  the  Williamses,  and  their  com 
patriots  of  the  present  day  will  be  able  to  render  a 
just  account  of  all,  if  there  be  any  who  shall  dare  to 
raise  their  parricidal  hands  against  the  peace,  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union  of  the  states.  Eebuked 
by  public  opinion — a  sufficient  corrective — and 
condemned  by  their  own  sober  reflections,  the 
treasonable  purpose  will  be  relinquished,  if  it  were 
ever  seriously  contemplated  by  any."  ' 

These  were  the  ringing  words  of  a  man  who  never 
cherished  a  sentiment  which  was  unfaithful  to  the 
Union,  and  he  would  need  to  repeat  them  many 
times  before  he  should  reach  the  end  of  his  public 
career.  He  had  adverted  to  the  subject  in  his 
speeches  in  the  South.  At  Natchez,  on  March  13, 
1830,  he  aimed  to  reconcile  the  people  of  Mississippi 
and  the  South  to  the  protective  system,  and  to  calm 
the  fears  of  those,  who  saw  in  prospect  a  dissolution 
of  the  Union.  Eumors  of  the  separation  of  the 
states,  he  said,  had  gone  abroad  ever  since  the 
establishment  of  the  government.  The  West,  the 
North  and  East,  the  South,  were,  in  turn,  charged 
with  designs  of  this  character.  It  was  his  belief 
that  such  apprehension  arose  from  ' '  our  fears 
rather  than  from  any  substantial  reasons  to  justify 
them."  2 

In  Cincinnati  again  on  August  3,  1830,  he  alluded 
to  the  attitude  of  South  Carolina,  and,  at  greater 
length  than  ever  before,  discussed  the  doctrines  of 
nullification.  The  speech  followed  the  Webster- 

1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  360  et  seq.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  389-390, 


184  HEXEY  CLAY 

Hayne  debates  by  a  few  months  and  was  Clay7? 
contribution  to  that  controversy.  He  could  hope  to 
add  nothing  to  what  Webster  had  said.  The  doc 
trine  had  been  "  examined  and  refuted  with  an 
ability  and  eloquence  which  had  never  been  sur 
passed  on  the  floor  of  Congress."  So  far  from  being 
oppressed,  he  asserted  that  South  Carolina  luid 
always  had  "  a  larger  proportion  of  power  and  in 
fluence  at  home  and  abroad  than  any  state  in  the 
whole  Union  in  comparison  with  the  population." 
She  had  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  who 
might,  in  a  contingency,  become  President.  She 
had  a  citizen  on  the  Supreme  Bench,  and  "until 
within  a  few  months  she  had  nearly  one-third  of  all 
the  missions  of  the  first  grade  from  this  to  foreign 
countries."  He  charged  the  South  Carolina  "  poli 
ticians"  with  not  looking  u  beyond*  the  simple  act 
of  nullification,"  with  not  seeing  that  one  of  the 
inevitable  consequences  of  their  course  would  be 
11  to  light  up  a  civil  war."  He  called  the  claim  of 
right  on  the  part  of  a  state  to  nullify  a  Federal  law 
an  "enormous  pretension."  "Under  the  South 
Carolina  doctrine,  if  established,  the  consequence 
would  be  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  immediate, 
inevitable,  irresistible.  There  would  be  twenty- 
four  chances  to  one  against  its  continued  exist 
ence." 

"  Those  who  are  opposed  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
Constitution,  laws  and  treaties  of  the  United  States," 
he  said,  "are  adverse  to  all  union,  whatever  con 
trary  professions  they  may  make.  For  it  may  be 
truly  affirmed  that  no  confederacy  of  states  can  ex 
ist  without  a  power,  somewhere  residing  in  the 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE    185 

government  of  that  confederacy,  to  determine  the 
extent  of  the  authority  granted  by  it  to  the  confed 
erating  states."  There  was  no  middle  ground  be 
tween  nullification  and  secession  for  Mr.  Clay,  al 
though  he  hinted  at  the  expediency  of  suffering  any 
state,  so  bold  as  to  try  her  rash  experiment,  to  go 
her  way  in  peace.  He  said  : 

"  If  the  unhappy  case  should  ever  occur  of  a  state 
being  really  desirous  to  separate  itself  from  the 
Union,  it  would  present  two  questions.  The  first 
would  be  whether  it  had  a  right  to  withdraw  with 
out  the  common  consent  of  the  members  ;  and  sup 
posing,  as  I  believe,  no  such  right  to  exist,  whether 
it  would  be  expedient  to  yield  consent.  Although 
there  may  be  power  to  prevent  a  secession,  it  might 
be  deemed  politic  to  allow  it.  It  might  be  consid 
ered  expedient  to  permit  the  refractory  state  to  take 
the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth  to  her,  to  suffer  her 
to  gather  her  all  together,  and  to  go  off  with  her 
living.  But  if  a  state  should  be  willing  and  allowed 
thus  to  depart,  and  to  renounce  her  future  portion 
of  the  inheritance  of  this  great,  glorious  and  pros 
perous  republic,  she  would  speedily  return,  and  in 
language  of  repentance  say  to  the  other  members 
of  this  Union,  '  Brethren,  I  have  sinned  against 
Heaven,  and  before  thee.'  Whether  they  would 
kill  the  fatted  calfr  and  chiding  any  complaining 
member  of  the  family  say,  'This,  thy  sister,  was 
dead  and  is  alive  again  ;  and  was  lost  and  is  found,' 
I  sincerely  pray  the  historian  may  never  have  oc 
casion  to  record." 

It  was  not  conceivable  that  a  man  to  whom  every 
person  and  every  circumstance  pointed  as  the  anti- 


186  HENEY  CLAY 

Jackson  leader,  and  also  the  auti-Calhouu  leader, 
the  father  of  the  famous  "  American  system,"  which 
was  bringing  upon  the  country  critical  sectional  dis 
affection,  should  be  permitted  to  remain  longer  upon 
a  farm  in  Kentucky.  Clearly  in  1832  he  would  be 
the  candidate  for  the  presidency  of  those  elements 
in  the  electorate  who  could  not  endorse  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  he  himself  believed  that  the  number 
was  growing  larger  daily.  The  attention  bestowed 
upon  him  wherever  he  went  attested  to  his  great 
popularity.  He  swayed  the  enormous  audiences 
which  gathered  to  hear  him  with  his  magnificent 
oratory.  The  people  seemed  to  bend  responsive  to 
his  will,  and  he  may  be  excused,  if  under  such  evi 
dences  he  somewhat  erred  in  judging  the  temper  of 
the  country,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  proofs  of  the 
strength  of  his  hold  upon  their  affections.  Thci 
judgment  was  right  as  to  a  really  important  per 
centage  of  the  people ;  he  erred  only  in  thinking 
that  they  were  numerous  enough  to  outweigh  the 
Jackson  hosts  in  a  popular  election. 

At  Cincinnati  in  the  summer  of  1830  he  said  : 
"  I  am  now  a  private  man,  the  humblest  of  the 
humble,  possessed  of  no  office,  no  power,  no  patron 
age,  no  subsidized  press,  no  post-office  department 
to  distribute  its  effusions,  no  army,  no  navy,  no 
official  corps  to  chant  my  praises  and  to  drink  in 
flowing  bowls  my  health  and  prosperity.  I  have 
nothing  but  the  warm  affections  of  a  portion  of  Un 
people,  and  a  fair  reputation,  the  only  inheritance 
derived  from  my  father,  and  almost  the  only  inherit 
ance  which  I  am  desirous  of  transmitting  to  my 
children." 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    187 

In  the  winter  of  1830-1831  Mr.  Clay  made  another 
visit  to  New  Orleans,  and  upon  his  return  was  occu 
pied  with  the  settlement  of  several  estates  of  which 
he  was  the  executor.  The  summer  of  1831  was  sig 
nalized  by  a  contest  over  the  election  of  a  legislature 
which  would  choose  a  United  States  senator,  and 
from  all  sides  Clay  was  urged  to  be  a  candidate. 
He  did  not  publicly  say  that  he  would  be,  but  it 
was  rather  well  understood  that  an  anti- Jackson 
victory  would  lead  to  this  result.  "  If  we  fail, ' '  Cl&y 
wrote  his  friend,  J.  S.  Johnston,  late  in  July,  "  it 
will  be  because  the  power  of  corruption  is  superior 
to  the  power  of  truth."  u  Prodigious  efforts, 
seconded  by  a  vast  expenditure  of  money,  are  mak 
ing  from  Washington,"  he  said,  but  a  victory  was 
achieved.  Kentucky,  which  two  years  before  had 
been  swept  clean  by  the  Jackson  men,  now  pre 
sented  a  satisfactory,  though  by  no  means  large 
majority  against  him.  From  all  directions  Mr. 
Clay  received  requests  that  he  should  take  a  place 
in  the  Senate.  Daniel  Webster  and  many  represent 
atives  of  the  old  Federalist  and  Adams  element  in 
New  England,  now  his  devoted  friends,  warmly 
urged  him  to  go  to  Washington.  In  October,  he 
wrote  to  Judge  Brooke  that  he  was  still  considering 
whether  he  could  subdue  his  "  repugnance  to  the 
service."  Webster  was  most  emphatic  in  his  wish 
that  Clay  would  join  him  at  the  capital.  They  were 
confronted  by  "an  interesting  and  an  arduous  ses 
sion."  "  Everything,"  he  said,  u  is  to  be  attacked. 
.  .  .  Not  only  the  tariff,  but  the  Constitution  it 
self  in  its  elementary  and  fundamental  provisions 
will  be  assailed  with  talent,  vigor  and  union. 


188  HENEY  C 

Everything  is  to  be  debated,  as  if  nothing  had  ever 
been  settled.  .  .  .  It  would  be  an  iutiuile  grati 
fication  to  have  your  aid,  or  rather  your  lead. 
Everything  valuable  in  the  government  :s 
to  be  fought  for,  and  we  need  your  arm  in  the 
fight."1 

The  anti-Jackson  majority  in  the  legislature  wis 
not  large,  but  it  sufficed.  Mr.  Clay's  principal  con  - 
petitor  for  the  place  was  John  J.  Crittenden,  who  rt 
once  retired  from  the  contest.  Their  relations  ou 
this  occasion  were  entirely  cordial,2  and  remuine-1 
so.  Crittenden  was  one  of  Clay's  firmest  friends  and 
had  been  "  proscribed "  by  Jackson  on  this  ac 
count.  Through  Clay's  influence  he  had  been  ap 
pointed  District- Attorney  of  the  United  States  for 
Kentucky  by  President  Adams,  and  had  been  re 
moved  by  Jackson.  He  had  been  nominated  for  a 
vacant  place  on  the  Supreme  Bench  after  Clay  had 
declined  it,  but  the  Senate,  under  the  Jackson  influ 
ence,  had  refused  to  confirm  the  appointment.5 
Crittendeu  had  stumped  the  state  with  Clay  against 
Jackson  and,  deserving  as  he  was  of  advancement, 
he  was  without  a  thought  of  standing  in  the  way  of 
the  best  interests  of  his  chief  or  of  his  party.  The 

1  Colton,  Private  Correspondence,  p.  318. 

2  Life  of  Crittenden,  edited  by  his  daughter,  Vol.  I,  p.  81. 

"  The  citizens  of  Logan  County,  Kentucky,  desirous  of  ten 
dering  a  "  public  entertainment.  "  to  Crittenden  in  the  summer 
of  18^9,  wrote  him  a  letter  in  which  the  following  passages 
occur  :  "A  new  standard  is  introduced  to  decide  qualifications 
for  office.  The  question  is  not  now  as  in  the  days  of  the  Re 
publican  Jefferson,  4  Is  he  honest  ?  Is  he  capable  ?  Is  he  faith 
ful  ?  '  No,  the  only  questions  now  propounded  are,  '  Is  he  a 
true  Swiss?  Did  he  vote  against  my  competitor?  Has  he 
fought  for  me  ?  Has  he  echoed  my  slanders  against  Henry 
Clay  ?  '  "—Life  of  Crittenden,  Vol.  I,  p.  76. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE     189 

Jacksou  candidate  was  Colonel  Richard  M.  John 
son,  who  was  credited  with  having  killed  Tecumseh 
at  the  battle  of  the  Thames.  He  had  held  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  from  1819  until  1829,  and  it  was  now  de 
sired  by  his  friends  that  he  should  return  to  the 
place.  The  vote  which  was  taken  on  November  10, 
1831,  was  seventy-three  for  Henry  Clay  and  sixty- 
four  for  Colonel  Johnson. 

Mr.  Clay  went  to  Washington  in  time  for  the 
opening  of  Congress  in  December,  1831,  after  an 
absence  of  two  and  a  half  years.  He  was  the  avowed 
candidate  of  his  party  for  the  presidency,  at  the 
election  to  be  held  in  the  following  year.  He  fully 
knew  the  political  hazard  involved  in  his  active 
entry  into  congressional  debate,  but  in  this  national 
emergency  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  heed  the  advice  of  his 
friends,  and  give  freely  of  what  he  was  possessed  for 
the  public  welfare.  His  coming  was  a  welcome 
event  to  them,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  bold 
positions  upon  the  great  questions  brought  forward 
by  the  Jackson  administration,  and  by  the  threaten 
ing  course  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  always  Clay's 
personal  misfortune,  as  a  presidential  candidate,  to 
hold  positive  opinions  which  he  never  hesitated 
to  express.  They  were  uttered  courageously,  some 
times  perhaps  too  heartily  and  impulsively.  He 
did  not  shirk  a  duty  when  it  confronted  him,  and 
though  he  pass  down  to  posterity  as  the  great  paci 
ficator  and  the  great  compromiser,  there  was  little 
enough  of  this  quality  in  his  own  personal  character. 
He  had  nothing  to  surrender  at  times  when  merely 
to  have  been  silent  might  have  profited  him  much. 

Clay  had  scarcely  arrived  in  Washington  to  begin 


190  HENKY  CLAY 

his  term  as  a  United  States  senator,  when  he  was; 
formally  nominated  as  the  candidate  for  President 
of  those  who  were  "  opposed  to  the  reelection  of 
Andrew  Jackson."  The  custom  of  naming  presi 
dential  candidates  in  conventions  was  now  becoming 
established,  and  about  160  representatives  from 
seventeen  states  and  the  District  of  Columbia 
(eighteen  after  one  delegate  had  come  from  Ten 
nessee)  appeared  in  Baltimore  on  December  1*2, 
1831,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  to  the  nation  tin 
name  of  Henry  Clay.  Indeed,  all  the  states  were, 
represented,  except  South  Carolina  and  some  in  the 
extreme  South  and  West.  James  Barbour  of  Vir 
ginia  who  had  been  Governor  of  his  state,  United 
States  Senator,  Secretary  of  War  and  Minister  to 
England,  was  made  the  permanent  chairman  of  the 
convention,  and  early  in  the  proceedings  a  letter 
from  Henry  Clay  was  read.  Not  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  his  name  was  prominently  mentioned  as 
the  choice  of  the  delegates,  he  desired  it  to  be  un 
derstood  that  if  any  other  candidate  were  selected, 
their  action  would  have  his  "  hearty  acquiescence 
and  concurrence."  He  had  a  wish  to  lay  these 
sentiments  before  the  convention  in  person,  but  lie 
had  resorted  instead  to  a  letter,  since  it  had  appeared 
to  him  that  he  could  not  do  so  "  without  incurring 
the  imputation  of  presumptnousnoss,  or  indelicacy." 
Immediately  after  the  letter  had  been  read,  Mr. 
Clay  was  nominated  by  Peter  K.  Livingston  of  New 
York,  and  seconded  by  General  Dearborn  of  Mas 
sachusetts.  As  each  delegate's  name  was  called  by 
the  secretary,  he  rose  in  his  place  to  express  his 
preference  for  a  candidate.  All  named  Henry  Clay 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    191 

aod  be  became  the  choice  of  the  convention  ainid 
"  loud,  and  reiterated  plaudits."  Jo hii  Sergeant,  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Philadelphia  bar,  who 
had  served  several  terms  in  Congress,  notably  dur 
ing  the  Missouri  debates,  and  had  led  the  Panama 
Mission  while  Clay  was  Secretary  of  State,  was  nom 
inated  for  Vice- President.  A  committee  consisting 
of  one  member  from  each  state  was  appointed  to 
inform  the  candidate  of  the  action  of  the  convention, 
and  five  of  the  number  at  once  went  to  Washing 
ton  to  notify  Mr.  Clay  of  what  had  been  done. 
They  returned  in  a  few  hours  bearing  a  letter  from 
him. 

"  With  my  respectful  and  cordial  acknowledg 
ments,"  said  he,  "  you  will  be  pleased  to  communi 
cate  to  the  convention  my  acceptance  of  their  nom 
ination  with  the  assurance  that  whatever  may  be  the 
event  of  it,  our  common  country  shall  ever  find  me 
faithful  to  the  Union  and  the  Constitution,  to  the 
principles  of  public  liberty,  and  to  those  great  meas 
ures  of  national  policy  which  have  made  us  a  peo 
ple,  prosperous,  respected  and  powerful."  l  After 
marching  in  a  procession  to  the  mansion  of  Charles 
Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  to  pay  their  respects  to  that 
venerable  Revolutionary  patriot,  now  more  than 
ninety- four  years  of  age,  the  delegates  returned  to 
their  homes,  and  Henry  Clay  was  officially  a  candi 
date  before  the  country  for  the  presidential  chair, 
against  Jackson,  whom  his  friends  were  determined 
to  favor  with  a  second  term. 

The  first  subject  to  engage  Mr.  Clay's  attention  in 
the  Senate  was  the  "  American  system,"  but  he  was 
1  Nile*'  Register  for  1831-1832,  p.  301  et  seq. 


192  HEKEY  CLAY 

not  long  in  identifying  himself  with  the  other  greai; 
issue    of  the   campaign,  the  national   bank.     His 
popular  support  largely  came  from  the  mauulactur 
ing  states,  and  it  was  perfectly  well  understood  tlia'i 
if  the  "black  tariff"  were  changed  with  his  ap 
proval  and  consent,  it  would  be  not  far  in  the  direc 
tion    of   any    sacrifice  of    its  protective   features 
While  South  Carolina's  protests  were  determined, 
there  were  few  to  believe  that  she  meant  violent  ac 
tion.     It  was  plain,  however,  that  the  public  deb) 
was  being  rapidly  paid  off ;  that  the  revenue  musi- 
be  reduced,  if  a  large  surplus  were  not  to  be  accu 
mulated  ;  and  that  these  circumstances  would  SOOL 
become  powerful  motives  with  Jackson  and  his  party, 
so  desirous  of  strengthening  itself  in  the  affection, 
of  the  democratic  masses,  for  making  an  end  to  the 
protective  system  which  Clay  had  done  so  much  to 
establish. 

The  leader  did  not  spare  himself  in  the  contest 
which  soon  opened.  He  held  a  meeting  of  the 
friends  of  protection,  drawn  from  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  determined  upon  a  course  of  action 
for  them  which  John  Quincy  Adams, — returned  in 
his  diary  to  his  splenetic  judgments  of  Clay  as  of 
other  men, — regarded  as  a  exceedingly  peremptory 
and  dogmatic."  Mr.  Adams  now  appeared  in  the 
House,  "  turned  boy  again  "as  Clay  happily  said, 
and  they  met  for  the  first  time  since  their  memorable 
years  together  as  President  and  Secretary  of  State. 
The  plan  was  to  reduce  the  revenue  by  taking  the 
duties  from  tea,  coffee,  spices,  indigo,  wines  and 
other  articles  not  produced  in  America,  a  policy 
which,  therefore,  would  leave  undisturbed  the  up- 


NULLIFICATION  AND  OOMPKOMISE     193 

rising  native  industries.  Mr.  Adams  as  well  as  Ed 
ward  Everett,  at  whose  home  the  meeting  was  held, 
believed  that  some  of  Mr.  Clay's  suggestions  would 
be  a  defiance  not  only  to  the  South  but  also  to  the 
President.  Clay  said,  however,  that  "  he  did  not 
care  who  it  defied.  To  preserve,  maintain  and 
strengthen  the  i  American  system,'  he  would  defy 
the  South,  the  President  and  the  devil."  The  meet 
ing,  Mr.  Adams  continues,  "  with  the  exception  of 
myself  was  as  obsequious  as  he  was  super- presiden 
tial."  1 

Mr.  Clay  very  shortly  introduced  into  the  Senate  a 
resolution  expressive  of  his  views,  as  he  had  voiced 
them  at  this  meeting.  He  spoke  with  all  his  accus 
tomed  spirit  of  eloquence,  first  on  January  11, 1832, 
and  then,  more  extensively  and  with  really  impress 
ive  ability,  on  February  2d,  3d  and  6th  in  dis 
courses  which,  taken  together,  formed,  as  Schurz 
truly  says,  a  text-book  for  protectionists  for  many 
years. 

In  his  view  of  the  case,  Mr.  Clay's  "American 
system ' '  had  brought  its  own  full  justification.  "  If 
I  were  to  select  any  term  of  seven  years  since  the 
adoption  of  the  present  Constitution,  which  exhib 
ited  a  scene  of  the  most  wide-spread  dismay  and  des 
olation,'7  he  said,  "  it  would  be  exactly  that  term  of 
seven  years  which  immediately  preceded  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Tariff  of  1824. "  "  If  a  term  of  seven 
years  were  to  be  selected  of  the  greatest  prosperity 
which  this  people  have  enjoyed  since  the  establish 
ment  of  their  present  Constitution,"  he  continued, 
"it  would  be  exactly  that  period  of  seven  years 

1  Memoirs,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  445  et  seq. 


194  HEKEY  CLAY 

which  immediately  followed  the  passage  of  the 
Tariff  of  1824. " 

ID  the  course  of  his  speech,  upon  a  subject  which 
it  is  never  easy  to  make  entertaining,  there  were 
some  signs  of  lagging  interest.  To  this  Clay  was  not 
accustomed  and  he  instantly  regained  attention  by 
a  clever  allusion  to  the  Vice-President.  Calhou i, 
with  sombre,  sphinx-like  countenance,  his  met  i- 
physical  theories  of  government  coursing  through 
his  mind,  was  the  presiding  officer.  Clay  sudden  y 
adverted  to  the  South  Carolinian's  recent  address  o 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  In  this  he  did  not 
say  that  he  himself  believed  a  protective  tariff  to  be 
unconstitutional  ;  he  asserted  only  that  such  an 
opinion  was  held  by  others.  It  must  be  inferred 
then  that  the  author  of  the  address  was  of  another 
view.  Mr.  Calhouu  immediately  aroused,  and  said 
that,  if  the  senator  from  Kentucky  alluded  to  him, 
he  would  state  that  he  believed  the  protective  policy 
to  be  unconstitutional.  This  was  Mr.  Clay's  oppor 
tunity  and  he  continued  :  "  When,  sir,  I  contended 
with  you  side  by  side,  and  with  perhaps  less  zeal 
than  you  exhibited  in  1816,  I  did  not  understand 
you  then  to  consider  the  policy  forbidden  by  the 
Constitution." 

To  this  the  Vice- President  retorted  that  the  con 
stitutional  question  at  the  time  was  not  under  dis 
cussion,  and  that  he  had  never  expressed  any  opinion 
different  from  the  one  he  now  entertained.  "It  is 
true  the  question  was  not  debated  in  1816,"  an 
swered  Clay,  "  and  why  not?  Because  it  was  not 
debatable ;  it  was  then  believed  not  fairly  to  arise. 
.  .  .  What  was  not  dreamed  of  before,  or  in 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE    195 

1816,  and  scarcely  thought  of  in  1824,  is  now  made 
by  excited  imaginations  to  assume  the  imposing 
form  of  a  serious  constitutional  barrier.7'  l 

The  interest  of  the  Senate  was  immediately  re 
gained  by  this  spirited  interchange,  and  the  discus 
sion  proceeded  with  many  allusions  to  the  "  honor 
able  gentleman  from  South  Carolina'7  which  kept 
every  one  in  a  pleasant  condition  of  amusement  and 
expectancy.  From  Calhoun  Clay  passed  to  Albert 
Gallatiu  who  had  lately  attacked  the  "American 
system,"  "a  man,"  said  Clay  very  angrily,  "  al 
though  long  a  resident  of  this  country,"  with  "DO 
feelings,  no  attachments,  no  sympathies,  no  princi 
ples,  in  common  with  our  people."  Fifty  years  be 
fore  Pennsylvania  "took  him  to  her  bosom,  and 
warmed,  and  cherished,  and  honored  him."  How 
had  he  manifested  his  gratitude!  "By  aiming  a 
vital  blow  at  a  system  endeared  to  her  by  a  thorough 
conviction  that  it  is  indispensable  to  her  prosper 
ity.  ' '  There  was  no  such  thing  as  free  trade.  ' '  The 
call  for  it,"  said  he,  "  is  as  unavailing  as  the  cry  of 
a  spoiled  child  in  its  nurse's  arms  for  the  moon  or 
the  stars  that  glitter  in  the  firmament  of  Heaven." 
Trade  could  not  be  free  unless  the  foreign  country, 
as  well  as  this  country,  would  agree  to  make  it  so. 
What  was  called  free  trade  was  merely  the  "British 
colonial  system."  This  it  was  which  the  United 
States  was  invited  to  adopt. 

From  time  to  time  General  Hayne  interposed  a 
remark  in  behalf  of  South  Carolina.  In  response  to 
one  of  these  interjections  Mr.  Clay  said  : 

' l  With  respect  to  this  Union,  Mr.  President,  the 
1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  pp.  447-448. 


196  HENRY  CLAY 

truth  caimot  be  too  generally  proclaimed,  nor  too 
thoroughly  inculcated  that  it  is  necessary  to  tha 
whole  and  to  all  the  parts — necessary  to  those  parts, 
indeed  in  different  degrees,  but  vitally  necessary  to 
each — and  that  threats  to  disturb  or  dissolve  it 
among  any  of  the  parts  would  be  quite  as  indiscreet 
and  improper  as  would  be  threats  from  the  residue 
to  exclude  those  parts  from  the  pale  of  its  benefits. 
The  great  principle  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of 
all  free  governments  is  that  the  majority  must  gov 
ern  ;  from  which  there  is  or  can  be  no  appeal  but 
to  the  sword.  The  majority  ought  to  govern  wisely, 
equitably,  moderately  and  constitutionally,  but  gov 
ern  it  must,  subject  only  to  that  terrible  appeal.  If 
ever  one,  or  several  states,  being  a  minority  can,  by 
menacing  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  succeed  in 
forcing  an  abandonment  of  great  measures  deemed 
essential  to  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  the  whole, 
the  Union  from  that  moment  is  practically  gone.  It 
may  linger  on  in  form  and  name,  but  its  vital  spirit 
has  fled  forever." 

He  again  appealed  to  the  spirit  of  Marion,  Sumtev 
and  Pickens  and  asked  the  people  "  to  pause,  sol 
emnly  pause  and  contemplate  the  frightful  precipice 
which  lies  directly  before  them. ' '  4 '  To  retreat, : '  In- 
continued,  "may  be  painful  and  mortifying  to  their 
gallantry  and  pride,  but  it  is  to  retreat  to  the  Union, 
to  safety,  and  to  those  brethren  with  whom,  or  with 
whose  ancestors,  they,  or  their  ancestors,  have  won 
on  fields  of  glory  imperishable  renown.  To  advance 
is  to  rush  on  certain  and  inevitable  disgrace  and 
destruction." 

Danger  to  the  Union  did  not  lie  "on  the  side  of 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE    197 

persistence  in  the  American  system,  but  on  that  of 
its  abandonment.  What,"  he  asked,  "would  the 
Union  be  without  Pennsylvania  and  New  York, 
those  mammoth  members  of  our  confederacy  f  ' >  Let 
it  be  supposed  that  they,  u  firmly  persuaded  that 
their  industry  was  paralyzed  and  their  prosperity 
blighted  by  the  enforcement  of  the  British  colonial 
system,  under  the  delusive  name  of  free  trade," 
were  to  question  the  authority  of  the  Union.  In 
concluding  Mr.  Clay  said  to  the  South  Carolinians  : 
"  However  strong  their  convictions  may  be,  they 
are  not  stronger  than  ours.  Between  the  points  of 
the  preservation  of  the  system  and  its  absolute  re 
peal,  there  is  no  principle  of  union." 

If  a  particular  provision  operated  immoderately 
upon  any  quarter,  he  would  assist  in  its  modifi 
cation,  but  he  left  little  room  for  Calhoun  or  Hayne 
to  hope  for  favor  at  the  hands  of  him,  or  his  protec 
tionist  allies.  The  Senate  passed  his  resolution  and 
in  June,  1832,  a  bill  expressive  of  his  views,  known 
as  the  Tariff  of  1832,  was  enacted  by  Congress.  But 
the  reduction  of  the  duties  on  articles,  mostly  lux 
uries,  not  produced  in  the  United  States  was  so 
slight,  that  it  did  not  materially  affect  the  surplus, 
while  South  Carolina's  anger  grew  apace. 

Upon  other  public  questions  of  vital  importance 
in  giving  direction  to  the  presidential  campaign, 
Senator  Clay,  as  the  opposition  candidate,  was 
listened  to  with  similar  attention.  His  words  trav 
eled  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  He  aided 
in  rejecting  Jackson's  nomination  of  Martin  Van 
Buren  to  be  Minister  to  England.  He  led  the  con 
test  with  honest  delight.  Mr.  Clay  made  his  ob- 


198  HEXKY  CLAY 

jections  rest  principally  upon  the  fact  that  the 
President  had  already  sent  Mr.  Van  Buren  abroad, 
taking  for  granted  the  Senate's  consent ;  and  upon 
Van  Buren' s  action  while  Secretary  of  State  in  es 
pousing,  as  Clay  believed,  the  British  side  on  a  sub 
ject  left  open  by  the  preceding  Secretary  of  State, 
no  other  than  Mr.  Clay  himself.  This  change  oi 
policy  had  been  explained,  tactlessly  enough,  on 
the  ground  that,  in  the  election  of  1828,  the  people 
of  the  United  States  had  rebuked  the  political  party 
from  which  the  proposal  had  come.  This  was  an 
excellent  opportunity  to  avenge  an  attack  so  per 
sonal  and  how  any  one  could  have  anticipated  that 
Van  Buren' s  name  would  slip  through  the  Senate 
with  Clay  upon  the  scene  passes  competent  under 
standing.  It  was  an  opportunity,  too,  for  an  at 
tack  upon  Jackson  for  his  system  of  proscribing  his 
enemies,  and  of  making  the  government  a  partisan 
political  machine.  Indeed,  it  was  Clay's  speech  on 
the  Van  Buren  nomination  which  directly  led  to 
Marcy's  frank,  and  since  famous  declaration  that 
"  to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils."  In  ascribing 
blame  to  Van  Buren  for  this  policy  Mr.  Clay  said  : 
"It  is  a  detestable  system  drawn  from  the  worst 
period  of  the  Roman  republic,  and  if  it  were  to  be 
perpetuated — if  the  offices,  honors  and  dignities  of 
the  people  are  to  be  put  up  to  a  scramble,  and  to  be 
decided  by  the  results  of  every  presidential  election, 
our  government  and  institutions  becoming  intoler 
able,  would  finally  end  in  a  despotism  as  inexorable 
as  that  at  Constantinople." 

Van  Buren' s  name  called  for  a  very  close  trial  of 
party  strength,  and  it  was  rejected  only  by  Cal- 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE     199 

houu's  casting  vote.  The  South  Carolinian  found 
as  much  satisfaction  in  his  course,  as  did  Mr.  Clay, 
for  the  Van  Buren  faction  in  order  to  get  Calhoun 
out  of  the  way  had  brought  to  the  "  old  hero's"  at 
tention  an  interesting  fact  which  seemed  earlier  to 
have  escaped  him.  While  Clay  was  abusing  Jack 
son  in  the  open  House  for  his  conduct  during  the 
Indian  war  in  Florida,  Calhoun,  as  Secretary  of  War 
in  Monroe's  cabinet,  was  making  an  effort  in  another 
direction  to  have  the  general  punished  for  his  high 
handed  proceedings.  Knowledge  of  this  immedi 
ately  caused  Jackson  to  regard  as  an  enemy  one  who 
had  heretofore  seemed  to  be  a  friend,  and  Calhoun 
no  less  than  Clay,  though  on  very  different  ground, 
found  great  pleasure  in  an  act  which  they  l  believed 
would  serve  to  make  an  end  to  Jackson's  principal 
favorite.  They  yet  knew  little  of  the  "hero's"  re 
vengeful  spirit,  or  of  his  great  personal  power. 
This  "creature,"  as  Van  Buren  seemed  and  really 
was,  soon  became  Yice-President  and  then  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  solely  because  it  was 
Jackson's  desire  so  to  reward  a  faithful  retainer. 

The  national  bank,  it  will  be  remembered,  had 
been  chartered  largely  through  Clay's  influence  after 
the  War  of  1812.  It  had  done  its  part  well,  and 
when  its  twenty  years'  lease  of  life  should  expire  in 
1836,  it  was  assumed  that  another  would  be  given. 
Unhappily  for  it  and  its  friends,  the  bank,  or  some 
of  its  branches,  was  adjudged  by  Jackson  to  be 
operated  in  antagonism  to  his  political  plans,  and 
in  his  first  message  to  Congress  in  December,  1829, 
he  threatened  to  close  the  institution.  His  hostility 

1  Hunt,  Calhoun,  pp.  112-113. 


200  HENRY  CLAY 

grew  with  each  animal  message,  creating  a  very 
anxious  feeling  in  financial  circles.  There  was  no 
imminent  need  of  pressing  the  issue  in  1831,  but 
Clay  had  a  wish  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  coun 
try,  certain  that  Jackson  would  be  much  injured  in 
the  presidential  contest,  if  Congress  passed  the  bill 
renewing  the  charter,  and  the  President  should  veto 
it.  Both  houses,  therefore,  proceeded  to  a  discus 
sion  of  the  question  and,  having  passed  the  measure 
extending  the  bank's  powers  by  comfortable  ma 
jorities,  sent  it  to  the  President,  who  promptly  took 
the  dare  and  returned  the  bill  with  his  disapproval. 
The  veto  message  came  on  July  10,  1832.  It  was 
a  stump  speech  of  the  kind  calculated  to  win  great 
applause  among  those  classes  of  the  people  who  fol 
lowed  Jackson  with  such  implicit  confidence.  The 
bank  was  a  monopoly  which,  if  popular  liberty  were 
to  continue,  must  be  destroyed.  The  orators  in  the 
Senate,  Clay  and  Webster  at  their  head,  at  once 
seized  upon  the  message  as  the  text  for  long  and 
able  speeches.  The  summer  was  wearing  on  and 
discussion  seemed  to  gain  in  acrimony  with  the 
weather.  Bentou,  having  made  himself  the  spokes 
man  of  Jackson,  was  in  the  very  centre  of  the  melee. 
His  kinship  with  Mrs.  Clay  did  not  moderate  the 
language  which  one  leader  employed  in  reference  to 
the  other,  and  amid  wild  scenes  the  President's  veto 
was  sustained.  The  vote  was  twenty -two  to  nineteen, 
it  being  practically  assured  from  the  beginning  that 
the  necessary  two-thirds  majority  could  not  be  ob 
tained.  It  was,  nevertheless,  a  political  issue  of 
which  Clay  felt  very  proud,  as  he  did  also  of  his 
position  on  the  subject  of  the  public  lands. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE     201 

Now  that  the  public  debt  was  beiDg  extinguished 
and  there  was  to  be  no  more  need  of  large  Federal 
revenues,  an  Arcadian  belief  arose  that  the  national 
domain  should  be  partitioned  among  the  states. 
Clay  had  come  out  boldly,  though  perhaps  not  quite 
willingly,  since  the  expression  of  his  views  at  this 
time  was  forced  upon  him  by  his  enemies,  in  favor 
of  a  policy  which  he  advocated  with  energy  and 
ability  for  many  years.  Jackson  wished  Congress 
to  cede  and  surrender  the  public  lands  at  nominal 
prices  to  the  states  in  which  they  were  situated. 
This  was  a  sop  to  the  new  states,  and  took  no  ac 
count  of  the  sacrifices  which  had  been  made  by  the 
older  portions  of  the  Union  in  the  acquisition  of  the 
public  domain.  Clay,  on  the  other  hand,  desired 
the  Federal  government  to  keep  control  of  the  lands, 
and  sell  them  gradually,  giving  the  proceeds  to  all 
the  states  according  to  their  population,  to  be  ap 
plied  to  educational  purposes,  and  the  promotion  of 
internal  improvements.  u  What  especially  would 
be  the  situation  of  Virginia?"  Clay  asked  in  the 
Senate  as  he  reviewed  the  proposal  of  his  opponents. 
k'  She  magnanimously  ceded  an  empire  in  extent  for 
the  common  benefit.  And  now  it  is  proposed  not 
only  to  withdraw  that  empire  from  the  object  of  its 
solemn  dictation  to  the  use  of  all  the  states,  but  to 
deny  her  any  participation  in  it  and  appropriate  it 
exclusively  to  the  benefit  of  the  new  states  carved 
out  of  it," 

Mr.  Clay  reached  heights  of  eloquence  on  this 
subject.  "  The  right  of  the  Union  to  the  public 
lands,"  he  said,  "is  incontestable.  It  ought  not  to 
be  considered  debatable.  It  never  was  questioned 


202  HENRY  CLAY 

but  by  a  few,  whose  monstrous  heresy,  it  was  prob 
ably  supposed,  would  escape  animadversion  from  the 
enormity  of  the  absurdity  and  the  utter  imprac 
ticability  of  the  success  of  the  claim.  The  right  of 
the  whole  is  sealed  by  the  blood  of  the  Revolution, 
founded  upon  solemn  deeds  of  cession  from  sovereign 
states,  deliberately  executed  in  the  face  of  the  world, 
or  resting  upon  neutral  treaties  concluded  with  for 
eign  powers,  on  ample  equivalents  contributed  from 
the  common  treasury  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  .  .  .  Can  you  imagine  that  the  states 
of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  would  quietly 
renounce  their  right  in  all  public  lauds  west  of 
them  f  No,  sir  !  No,  sir  !  They  would  wade  to 
their  knees  in  blood,  before  they  would  make  such 
an  unjust  and  ignominious  surrender." 

Mr.  Clay,  by  able  arguments,  caused  his  views  to 
prevail  in  the  Senate,  but  the  measure  was  not  acted 
upon  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Thus  with 
an  enlightened  policy  on  the  subject  of  the  public 
lands,  friendship  for  the  bank  and  for  the  "  Ameri 
can  system"  of  which  he  stood  as  the  particular 
champion,  unalterable  hostility  to  the  doctrine  of 
nullification  as  it  was  advanced  in  South  Carolina, 
and  opposition  to  all  the  sins  of  Jacksouism,  petty 
and  great,  Clay  went  before  the  people  of  the 
United  States  as  a  presidential  candidate  in  1832. 
He  and  his  friends  felt  certain  that  they  would  win. 
How  could  the  party  fail  with  such  a  leader  on  such 
a  platform,  against  such  an  enemy — "the  lank, 
lean,  famished  forms  from  fen  and  forest,  and  the 
four  quarters  of  the  Union,"  which  on  March  4, 
1829,  to  use  words  once  employed  by  Clay,  had 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    203 

"  gathered  together  in  the  halls  of  patronage"!1 
Surely  the  " gallant  Harry  of  the  West"  would 
sweep  the  Union  and  make  the  four  years  gone  by 
seem  a  mere  nightmare  in  the  history  of  the  re 
public. 

It  is  true  that  Jackson  was  favored  by  a  number 
of  circumstances  aside  from  his  control  of  a  party 
machinery,  now  being  constructed  for  the  first  time 
and  of  incalculable  use  to  him  in  the  contest.  He 
had  popularized  himself  by  some  threats  which  had 
escaped  him,  to  hang  Calhouu  as  a  traitor,  and  by 
the  sentiments  which  he  had  so  bluntly  expressed 
that  the  Union  must  be  preserved.  This  deprived 
Clay  of  any  advantage  that  he  personally  might 
have  got  from  his  opposition  to  the  nullification 
movement.  Jackson  profited,  too,  by  the  introduc 
tion  into  politics  of  the  subject  of  free  masonry.  He 
was  an  active  Mason.  Clay  also  belonged  to  the 
order,  though  he  had  not  recently  attended  its  meet 
ings,  and  the  anti-Masons  decided  to  put  forward  a 
candidate  of  their  own.  They  even  wished  Clay  to 
make  way  for  them  so  that  they  themselves  could 
bring  Jacksonism  to  an  end,  but  he  said  very  truly, 
and  in  emphatic  language,  that  masonry  or  anti- 
masonry  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  politics. 
He  wrote  privately  to  Brooke  that,  in  his  opinion, 
one  form  of  despotism  would  not  be  materially  better 
than  the  other,  and  if  it  were  Jackson  against  the 
anti-Masons  it  would  be  difficult  for  him  to  make  a 
choice. 

Thus  the  opposition  was  divided  and  Clay  lost 
much  in  many  states  which  he  might  otherwise  have 
».Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  463. 


204  HENBY  CLAY 

carried  with  ease.  The  bank  entered  the  campaign 
with  pamphlets  and  circulars  in  its  own  behalf. 
To  reasoning  men  such  an  educational  process  com 
mended  itself  warmly,  but  the  "old  hero"  in  a 
death  grapple  with  the  "  monster  monopoly"  was 
a  pleasing  picture  to  the  unlettered  masses.  Instead 
of  "  Clay's  rags,"  as  the  bank-notes  were  called,  they 
were  promised  hard  money.  The  ' '  corrupt  bargai  n  " 
was  brought  out  to  do  duty  again  j  indeed,  it  had 
never  been  withdrawn  from  service.  The  defeat 
which  Clay  suffered  was  overwhelming.  Of  288 
electoral  votes  only  forty- nine  were  for  him, — those 
of  Massachusetts,  Ehode  Island,  Kentucky,  Delaware 
and  five  votes  in  Maryland.  The  popular  vote  was 
707,217  for  Jackson,  328,561  for  Clay,  and  254,720 
for  William  Wirt,  the  auti- Masonic  candidate. 

That  Mr.  Clay's  discouragement  was  great  as  he 
surveyed  the  scene  is  attested  in  a  letter  to  his  friend 
Brooke  under  date  of  January  17,  1833,  when  he 
said  :  "  As  to  politics,  we  have  no  past  or  future. 
After  forty-four  years  of  existence  under  the  present 
Constitution,  what  single  principle  is  fixed?  The 
bank?  No.  Internal  improvements?  No.  The 
tariff?  No.  Who  is  to  interpret  the  Constitution  ? 
We  are  as  much  afloat  at  sea  as  the  day  when  the 
Constitution  went  into  operation.  There  is  nothing 
certain,  but  that  the  will  of  Andrew  Jackson  is  to 
govern,  and  that  will  fluctuates  with  the  change  of 
every  pen  which  gives  expression  to  it."  ' 

The  election  did  nothing  to  pacify  the  South 
Carolinians,  who  felt  that  they  had  as  little  to  gain 
from  Jackson  as  from  Clay.  They  had  voted  for 
1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  347. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPKOM1SE    205 

neither  one  nor  the  other.  Their  electoral  votes 
were  cast  for  Governor  John  Floyd  of  Virginia,  in 
whom  they  saw  friendship  for  their  particular  views 
as  to  state  sovereignty.  It  was  clearly  discerned 
that  they  would  press  their  doctrine  that  the  tariff 
law  enacted  at  the  last  session  of  Congress,  and 
signed  by  the  President,  was  not  binding  upon  them, 
and  very  likely  by  violent  means.  All  the  members 
returned  to  the  second  session  of  the  Twenty-second 
Congress  with  the  conviction  that  a  national  crisis 
was  at  hand.  The  legislature  of  South  Carolina  in 
October  had  called  a  convention  to  meet  in  the  next 
month,  and  this  body  formally  declared  the  tariff 
laws  of  the  United  States  void  and  of  no  effect  in 
that  state.  Methods  of  enforcing  the  extraordinary 
resolve  were  prescribed. 

The  date  set  for  this  defiance  of  the  Federal  govern 
ment  was  February,  1833. 1  It  was  confidently  be 
lieved  by  Calhoun  and  his  friends  that  the  announce 
ment  of  their  policy  would  awaken  a  sympathetic 
response  in  other  parts  of  the  South,  as  this  state's 
course  in  1860  actually  did.  But  the  time  was  not 
yet  ripe  for  it.  Even  in  South  Carolina  itself  com 
plete  unanimity  of  sentiment  lacked,2  and  those 
who  rode  forward,  under  Calhoun' s  lead,  were  not  a 
little  afraid  that  they  had  gone  too  gaily  out  to  the 
fray,  especially  when  they  read  Jackson's  proclama 
tion  of  December  10th.  It  combined  fatherly  appeal 
with  substantial  threats,  which  left  no  room  for 
doubt  that,  if  necessary,  the  "old  hero"  himself 
would  invade  South  Carolina,  as  he  had  invaded 

1  All  faithfully  described  in  Hunt's  Calhoun,  p.  149  et  seq. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  171  et  seq. 


206  HENRY  CLAY 

Florida,  to  chastise  the  Semiiioles.  He  made  short 
work  of  all  of  Calhoun' s  labored  metaphysical 
speculations  about  nullification.  "  The  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States  forms  a  government  not  a 
league,"  he  said,  "and  whether  it  be  formed  by  a 
compact  between  the  states  or  in  any  other  manner, 
its  character  is  the  same.  ...  I  consider  the 
power  to  annul  a  law  of  the  United  States  incompat 
ible  with  the  existence  of  the  Union,  contradicted 
expressly  by  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  unauthor 
ized  by  its  spirit,  inconsistent  with  every  principle 
on  which  it  was  founded,  and  destructive  of  the 
great  object  for  which  it  was  formed.  .  .  .  Our 
Constitution  does  not  contain  the  absurdity  of  giving 
power  to  make  laws  and  another  power  to  resist 
them.  To  say  that  any  state  may  at  pleasure  secede 
from  the  Union  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are 
not  a  nation." 

While  the  South  Carolina  manifestoes  produced 
almost  no  enthusiasm  in  other  states,  Jackson's 
proclamation  nearly  everywhere  met  with  warm  re 
sponse.  Calhoun  saw  that  he  was  face  to  face  with 
a  difficult  situation.  That  he  would  be  needed  upon 
the  floor  of  the  Senate  he  very  well  understood,  so 
Hayne  stepped  out  to  make  a  place  for  him,  and  he 
resigned  the  Vice- President's  chair.  Military  meas 
ures  looking  to  the  state's  defense  were  adopted  by 
the  people,  and  Calhoun' s  journey  to  Washington 
was  dramatic.  As  they  crowded  to  see  him  pass, 
some,  with  Jackson's  words  ringing  in  their  ears, 
must  have  doubted  whether  he  would  come  back 
alive. 

In  this  emergency  there  was  need  of  accommoda- 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE     207 

tion  by  compromise.  If  it  were  not  effected,  Done 
could  certainly  foretell  the  result.  On  both  sides, 
despite  an  appearance  of  great  earnestness,  there 
were  movements  looking  toward  a  retreat  from  the 
advanced  ground  which  each  had  come  to  occupy. 
The  "  American  system"  must  suffer  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  so-called  right  of  nullification  on  the 
other.  Soon  after  Christmas,  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  received  a  compromise  tariff  bill  from  the 
Committee  on  Ways  and  Means.  The  same  Con 
gress  which  less  than  six  months  before  was  ready  to 
increase  the  duties  to  almost  any  height,  upon  the 
demand  of  the  protectionists  of  the  North  and  West, 
was  now  ready  to  sweep  them  away.  The  new 
House  bill  contemplated  reducing  them  to  the  level 
of  1816,  when  the  system  of  favoring  native  indus 
tries  through  the  tariff  was  begun. 

This  plan  might  have  succeeded  but  for  South 
Carolina's  counter  measures,  following  Jackson's 
proclamation.  l  i  Old  Hickory J '  was  aroused  now, 
as  he  had  not  been  before,  and  on  January  16th  he 
laid  before  Congress  in  a  special  message  the  infor 
mation  which  he  had  received  concerning  the  atti 
tude  of  the  nullifiers.  He  asked  for  additional 
authority  wherewith  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws. 
He  announced  privately  that  he  had  put  himself  into 
communication  with  the  Unionists  of  South  Caro 
lina,  and  if  Congress  did  not  support  him,  he  would 
march  200,000  men  into  the  state  upon  hearing  of 
any  violent  step  taken  to  carry  the  nullification 
measures  into  effect.1  Congress,  however,  was  not 
unmindful  of  Jackson's  recommendations  on  such  a 

1  Hunt,  Calhoun,  pp.  178-179. 


208  HEXKY  CLAY 

subject  and  it  at  once  brought  forward  a  measure 
known  to  the  South  Carolinians  as  the  "Bloody 
Bill."  It  should  be  called,  said  Eepresentative  Mc- 
Duffie  upon  one  occasion,  in  the  House,  "  an  act  io 
subvert  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  of  this  Union, 
to  establish  a  consolidated  government  without  lim 
itation  of  powers,  and  to  make  the  civil  subordinate 
to  the  military  power." 

The  Senate  continued  to  debate  this  Force  Bill 
and  the  House  the  Tariff  Bill,  and  there  was  no  im 
mediate  prospect  of  any  understanding  being  arrived 
at  as  late  as  on  [February  llth,  only  three  wreeks  be 
fore  the  life  of  the  Twenty-second  Congress  would 
expire.  South  Carolina  had  meanwhile  set  forward 
the  date  upon  which  she  would  put  Calhouu's 
theory  into  operation,  and  her  great  leader  in  the 
Senate  continued  to  argue  his  points  with  much 
ability  ;  he  gave  signs  of  yielding  nothing  of  his 
faith  in  his  peculiar  view  of  the  nature  of  the  Union 
established  under  the  Constitution. 

Clay  found  no  pleasure  in  surveying  the  scene. 
His  friend,  Senator  John  M.  Clayton,  of  Delaware, 
looking  upon  the  troubled  faces  of  the  South  Caro 
lina  delegation  in  Congress,  said  one  day  :  "  Clay, 
these  are  fine  fellows.  It  won't  do  to  let  old  Jack 
son  hang  them.  We  must  save  them."  On  Janu 
ary  17th  Clay  was  trying  to  evolve  some  plan  of 
settlement.  He  had  not  yet  matured  it,  and  was 
not  very  hopeful  of  achieving  anything.  On  that 
date  he  wrote  his  friend  Brooke  :  "Any  plan  that  I 
might  offer  would  be  instantly  opposed,  because  I 
offered  it.  Sometimes  I  have  thought  that,  consid 
ering  how  I  have  been  and  still  am  treated  by  both 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    209 

parties  [the  tariff  and  the  anti-tariff]  I  would  leave 
them  to  fight  it  out  as  well  as  they  can.  The  lin 
gering  hopes  for  ruy  country  prevail  over  these  feel 
ings  of  a  just  resentment,  and  my  judgment  tells  me 
that,  disregarding  them,  I  ought  to  the  last  to  en 
deavor  to  do  what  I  can  to  preserve  its  institutions, 
and  reestablish  confidence  and  concord."  * 

It  is  said  that  in  the  next  following  days  Clay 
and  Calhouu  had  a  number  of  conferences, 2  in  which 
they  mutually  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  action.  Clay 
meanwhile  had  also  consulted  with  a  number  of 
Pennsylvania  and  other  manufacturers,  as  to  the 
course  which  he  was  about  to  adopt.  He  told  them 
that  if  they  did  not  accede  to  some  modifications 
now,  they  would  very  probably  have  changes  forced 
upon  them  by  the  next  Congress,  already  elected 
and  of  known  hostility  to  the  u  American  system.7' 
These  considerations,  coupled  with  knowledge  of 
the  state  of  affairs  in  South  Carolina,  presented  to 
them  by  one  whom  they  esteemed  and  trusted  as  a 
particular  friend,  were  effective  in  winning  them 
over  to  his  point  of  view. 

On  February  llth  Mr.  Clay  gave  notice  to  the 
Senate  that  he  should  on  the  following  day  * *  ask  leave 
to  introduce  a  bill  to  modify  the  various  acts  im 
posing  duties  on  imports."  3  Agreeable  to  this 
announcement,  on  Tuesday,  February  12th,  Mr. 
Clay  rose  in  the  Senate,  presented  his  bill  and  spoke 
upon  the  subject  at  length.  His  general  plan  called 
for  a  tariff  of  twenty  per  cent,  ad  valorem  upon  ar- 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  347. 

2  John  Quincy  Adams,  Memoirs.  Vol.  VIII,  p.  524. 

3  Gales  and  Seaton's  Register,  Vol.  IX,  Part  1,  p.  431. 


210  HENKY  CLAY 

tides  which  were  subject  to  duty  at  all.  Where  the 
duties  now  exceeded  this  amouut,  they  were  to  be 
reduced  one-tenth  every  second  year  until  1841. 
Then  one- half  the  remaining  excess  was  to  be  taken 
off,  and  in  1842  the  rest  of  the  excess,  bringing  the 
rates  down  to  the  general  ad  valorem  level.  By  this 
gradual  method  it  was  believed  that  the  manufac 
turers  could  and  would  accommodate  themselves  to 
lower  duties.  If,  after  the  nine  years  had  passed, 
they  felt  that  they  could  not,  Mr.  (May  thought  that 
redress  might  be  hopefully  sought  from  "  posterity." 
His  language  and  manner,  as  befitted  the  occa 
sion,  were  conciliatory  upon  the  subject  of  South 
Carolina,  as  well  as  in  reference  to  the  protective 
system,  which  seemed  to  be  almost  apart  of  his  own 
fibre.  He  wanted  harmony,  he  said  eloquently  at 
one  point  in  his  speech.  "1  wish  to  see  the  resto 
ration  of  those  ties  which  have  carried  us  trium 
phantly  through  two  wars.  I  delight  not  in  this 
perpetual  turmoil.  Let  us  have  peace  and  become 
once  more  united  as  a  band  of  brothers."  He  be 
lieved  that  he  understood  South  Carolina  a  little  bet 
ter  since  he  had  returned  to  Congress  for  the  present 
session.  She  disclaimed  the  intention  of  employing 
force  in  the  attainment  of  her  objects.  Her  pur 
poses  were  of  a  civil  nature.  She  thought  that  she 
could  "  oust  the  United  States  from  her  limits  "  by 
a  "law  suit."  He  had  no  belief  in  the  success  of 
any  such  contention.  The  state  had  been  "rash, 
intemperate  and  greatly  in  error,"  and  had  "made 
up  an  issue  unworthy  of  her."  She  was  merely  do 
ing,  however,  with  more  rashness  what  some  other 
states  had  attempted  to  do.  He  did  not  fail  to  draw 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE    211 

a  picture  of  what  South  Carolina's  situation  would 
be,  if  she  were  au  independent  state,  and  it  was  one 
little  calculated  to  attract  her  to  her  liberty.  Eis- 
iug  to  another  height  he  exclaimed  : 

"If  there  be  any  who  want  civil  war,  who  want 
to  see  the  blood  of  any  portion  of  our  countrymen 
spilt,  I  am  not  one  of  them  j  I  wish  to  see  war  of 
no  kind ;  but  above  all  do  I  not  desire  to  see  a  civil 
war.  When  war  begins,  whether  civil  or  foreign, 
no  human  foresight  is  competent  to  foresee  when, 
or  how,  or  where  it  is  to  terminate.  But  when  a 
civil  war  shall  be  lighted  up  in  the  bosom  of  our 
own  happy  land,  and  armies  are  marching,  and 
commanders  are  winning  their  victories,  and  fleets 
are  in  motion  on  our  coast,  tell  me,  if  you  can,  tell 
me,  if  any  human  being  can  tell,  its  duration. 
God  alone  knows  where  such  a  war  will  end.  In 
what  state  will  be  left  our  institutions  t  In  what 
state  our  liberties  !  I  want  no  war  ;  above  all,  no 
war  at  home. ' ' 

Though  South  Carolina  were  rash,  he  did  not  wish 
"  to  disgrace  her,  nor  any  other  member  of  this 
Union."  He  did  not  desire  "  to  see  dimmed  the 
lustre  of  one  single  star  of  that  glorious  confederacy 
which  constitutes  our  political  sun  :  still  less  do  I 
wish  to  see  it  blotted  out  and  its  light  obliterated 
forever."  He  asked  the  senators  to  look  for  one 
moment  beyond  considerations  of  party,  give  their 
attention  to  this  bill,  and  * '  heal  before  they  are  yet 
bleeding  the  wounds  of  our  distracted  country."  l 

After  a  few  other  speakers  had  briefly  presented 
their  views,  Calhoun  rose  in  his  place  and  expressed 
1  Gales  and  Seaton's  Register,  p.  471. 


212  HENEY  CLAY 

his  approval  of  the  object  and  terms  of  the  bill, 
whereupon  there  was  * l  tumultuous  approbation  ' J 
in  the  galleries.  The  chair  indeed  ordered  them  to 
be  cleared,  but  upon  an  expression  of  disapproval 
by  one  or  two  members,  this  direction  was  with 
drawn  and  the  crowd  of  spectators  remained,  fol 
lowing  the  course  of  events  with  grave  and  attentive 
interest. 

Calhoun  spoke  at  great  length  on  the  15th. 
Webster  replied,  and  the  opposite  views  of  the 
nature  of  the  Constitution  were  again  set  fortli  in 
extenso.  Webster,  however,  condemned  the  Com 
promise  because  it  sacrificed  the  tariff,  to  which  his 
section  was  now  very  much  devoted,1  and  Clay  spoke 
again  on  February  25th  with  the  hope  of  reconcil 
ing  the  protectionists  to  the  measure.  In  the  ardor 
of  the  moment  he  probably  said  more  in  favor  of 
the  protective  character  of  the  scheme  than  he  could 
well  substantiate.  It  was  only  his  great  power,  as 
a  leader  among  the  tariff  men,  that  made  the  bill 
for  a  gradual  reduction  of  duties  in  any  way  savory, 
and  he  now  spoke  with  all  the  vehemence  and  fas 
cination  which  he  so  well  knew  how  to  command. 
He  returned  to  the  immediate  need  of  propitiating 
the  South,  if  peace  were  to  be  maintained.  He 
again  deplored  civil  war  and  did  not:  hesitate  to 
allude  to  the  augmented  fear  which  he  would  feel 
regarding  it,  were  it  conducted  by  Andrew  Jack 
son.  lt  In  the  midst  of  magazines,"  he  asked,  "  who 
knows  when  the  fatal  spark  may  produce  a  terrible 
explosion  ?  The  battle  once  begun,  where  is  its 
limit?  What  latitude  will  circumscribe  its  rage? 
1  Lodge,  Webster,  pp.  213,  218  et  seq. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPEOMISE    213 

"Who  is  to  command  our  armies?  When,  and 
where,  and  how  is  the  war  to  cease  ?  In  what  con 
dition  will  the  peace  leave  the  i  American  system, ' 
the  American  Union  and  wnat  is  more  than  all, 
American  liberty  ?  I  cannot  profess  to  have  a  con 
fidence,  which  I  have  not,  in  this  administration, 
but,  if  I  had  all  confidence  in  it,  I  should  still  wish 
to  pause  and,  if  possible  by  any  honorable  adjust 
ment,  to  prevent  awful  consequences,  the  extent  of 
which  no  human  wisdom  can  foresee." 

The  "  enforcing  bill  "  should  not  be  passed  alone  ; 
it  must  be  accompanied  by  "  the  bill  of  peace." 
He  continued  : 

"The  difference  between  the  friends  and  the 
foes  of  the  Compromise,  under  consideration,  is  that 
they  would  in  the  enforcing  act  send  forth  alone  a 
flaming  sword.  We  would  send  out  that  also,  but 
along  with  it  the  olive  branch,  as  a  messenger  of 
peace.  They  cry  out,  i  The  law  !  the  law  !  the  law  ! 
Power  !  Power  !  Power  ! '  We  too  reverence  the 
law,  and  bow  to  the  supremacy  of  its  obligations, 
but  we  are  in  favor  of  the  law,  executed  in  mild 
ness,  and  of  power  tempered  with  mercy.  They,  as 
we  think,  would  hazard  a  civil  commotion,  begin 
ning  in  South  Carolina  and  extending  God  only 
knows  where.  While  we  would  vindicate  the  Fed 
eral  government,  we  are  for  peace,  if  possible,  union 
and  liberty.  We  want  no  war,  above  all,  no  civil 
war,  no  family  strife.  We  want  to  see  no  sacked 
cities,  no  desolated  fields,  no  smoking  ruins,  no 
streams  of  American  blood  shed  by  American 
arms.'' 

He  was  charged  with  ambition.     He  had  none. 


214  HENRY  CLAY 

1 '  I  am  no  candidate  for  any  office  in  the  gift  of  the 
people  of  these  states,  united  or  separated  ;  I  never 
wish,  never  expect  to  be.  Pass  this  bill,  tranquil- 
ize  the  country,  restore  confidence  and  affection  in 
the  Union,  and  I  am  willing  to  go  home  to  l  Ash 
land'  and  renounce  public  service  forever.  I 
should  there  find  in  its  groves,  under  its  shades,  on 
its  lawns,  amid  my  flocks  and  herds,  in  the  bosom 
of  my  family,  sincerity  and  truth,  attachment,  and 
fidelity,  and  gratitude  which  I  have  not  always 
found  in  the  walks  of  public  life.  Yes,  I  have  am 
bition  ;  but  it  is  the  ambition  of  being  the  humble 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  Providence  to  reconcile 
a  divided  people  ;  once  more  to  revive  concord  and 
harmony  in  a  distracted  land — the  pleasing  ambi 
tion  of  contemplating  the  glorious  spectacle  of  a 
free,  united,  prosperous  and  fraternal  people." 

Thus  did  Clay  allay  and  pacify  opposition  ;  thus 
did  he  "draw  the  lightning  from  all  the  clouds 
which  were  lowering  over  the  country." l  The 
Force  Bill  and  the  Tariff  Bill  were  passed  by  both 
houses  of  Congress  and  signed  by  the  President. 
To  Clay's  own  friends,  if  not  to  all  others,  it  seemed 
as  though  he  had  won  "  the  imperishable  glory  of 
preventing  civil  war." 2  James  Madison  wrote, 
complimenting  him  in  the  warmest  terms.  The  old 
Virginia  sage  hoped  that  in  the  period  of  nine  or  ten 
years  allowed  to  the  manufacturers  under  the  Com 
promise  that  they  would  learn  u  to  swim  without 
the  bladders  which  have  supported  them,"  and  that 
such  a  situation  would  never  arise  again.  Never- 

1  Nicholas  Riddle  to  Clay,  February  28,  1833. 
3  Private  Correspondence,  p.  350. 


NULLIFICATION  AND  COMPROMISE    215 

theless,  he  was  not  in  any  way  pleased  with  the 
outlook.  He  foresaw  what  in  the  fulness  of  time 
cauie  to  pass.  It  was  "painful"  for  him  to  con 
sider  the  signs  of  a  "  permanent  incompatibility  and 
even  hostility  of  interests  between  the  South  and 
the  North,'7  and  the  "  contagious  zeal  in  vindicating 
and  varnishing  the  doctrine  of  nullification  and  se 
cession  ;  the  tendency  of  all  of  which,  whatever  be 
the  intention,  is  to  create  a  disgust  with  the  Union 
aud  then  to  open  the  way  out  of  it.''  He  foresaw 
that  the  tariff  would  make  way  for  slavery  as  a  sub 
ject  of  discord.  "  What  madness  in  the  South," 
said  he,  "  to  look  for  greater  safety  in  disunion  !  It 
would  be  worse  than  jumping  out  of  the  frying-pan 
into  the  fire  from  a  fear  of  the  frying-pan."  j  Some 
thing  akin  to  this  did  it  indeed  prove  to  be  years 
after  Mr.  Madison's  and  Mr.  Clay's  voices  were 
heard  no  longer  in  the  land. 

1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  359,  365. 


CHAPTEE  IX 

THE  WAIi   AGAINST  JACKSON 

THE  importance  of  Clay's  service  as  a  pacificator 
in  the  great  sectional  difference  of  1833  seemed  at 
the  time  immense.  Nearly  everywhere,  except  in 
South  Carolina,  his  interposition  was  deeply  appre 
ciated.  It  was  believed  that  he  had  prevented  a 
civil  war  which,  with  Jackson  at  its  head,  would 
have  been  not  only  sanguinary,  but  also  destructive 
of  the  character  of  the  government.  Clay  himself 
lived  to  doubt  the  value  of  his  interference,  espe 
cially  as  Calhoun  upon  going  home  disseminated 
the  view  that  nullification  had  proven  to  be  all  tlmt 
he  had  ever  claimed  for  it.  It  had  been  South  Caro 
lina's  remedy  against  the  Federal  government  on  a 
subject  of  oppression  and  the  people  of  the  state 
seemed  to  press  it  still  closer  to  their  hearts.  ISTow 
that  the  Civil  War  has  come  and  gone,  and  we  are 
enabled  to  view  the  history  of  the  time  in  sober 
perspective,  it  seems  clear  that  the  lesson  to  the 
South  might  much  better  have  been  administered 
thus  early  in  the  development  of  the  spirit  of  dis 
union  and  separation.  The  experience  then  might 
have  been  quite  as  salutary,  with  the  expenditure 
of  much  less  blood  and  treasure  ;  yet  slavery  would 
have  remained.  That  was  the  real  ground  of  dif 
ference,  though  men  like  Madison,  Clay  and  Jack 
son  could  not  perceive  it,  if  indeed  did  any  one. 


THE  WAE  AGAINST  JACKSON        217 

The  tariff  was  but  a  symptom  of  economic  disorders 
which  had  not  yet  been  correctly  diagnosed. 

Up  to  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  in 
deed  for  a  year  or  two  afterward,  what  would  most 
men  not  have  given  for  some  basis  of  conciliation, 
understanding  and  peace !  It  is  only  by  compre 
hending  how  great  was  the  desire  to  avoid  a  clash 
between  the  states,  and  upon  what  proper  senti 
ments  it  was  founded,  that  we  can  conceive  of  the 
importance  which  a  service  like  Clay's  assumed  in 
the  public  mind. 

Though  the  gradually  falling  tariff  was  displeas 
ing  to  the  manufacturers,  they  soon  became  recon 
ciled  to  their  situation.  Peleg  Sprague  wrote  to 
Clay  on  March  19th  that  in  six  months'  time  the 
Compromise  would  be  considered  in  New  England 
''as  the  most  wise,  patriotic,  beneficent  and  splen 
did  act  of  legislation  that  any  individual  in  this 
country  has  ever  achieved."1  Abbott  Lawrence 
expressed  a  similar  view,  and  Webster  himself  soon 
forgave  Clay  for  opposing  him.  Their  cordial  re 
lations,  indeed,  had  never  been  interrupted  and 
they  were  the  firmest  of  friends.  Upon  his  return 
to  "  Ashland,"  after  the  close  of  the  arduous 
session,  Clay  immediately  occupied  himself  with  his 
farming  interests,  now  almost  entirely  confined  "to 
the  rearing  of  all  kinds  of  live-stock."  He  wrote 
his  friend  Brooke  that  he  had  in  his  stables  and 
fields  "the  Maltese  ass,  the  Arabian  horse,  the 
Merino  and  Saxe  Merino  sheep,  the  English  Here 
ford  and  Durham  cattle,  the  goat,  the  mule  and  the 
hog."  He  enjoyed  them  all.  "The  progress  of 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  354. 


218  HENEY  CLAY 

these  animals  from  their  infancy  to  maturity,"  lie 
continued,  "presents  a  constantly  varying  subject 
of  interest,  and  I  never  go  out  of  my  house  without 
meeting  with  some  of  them  to  engage  agreeably  my 
attention.  Then  our  fine  greensward,  our  natural 
parks,  our  beautiful  undulating  country,  every 
where  exhibiting  combinations  of  grass  and  trees, 
or  luxuriant  crops, — all  conspire  to  render  home 
delightful."  ' 

His  land  bill,  which  had  passed  the  Senate  twice 
and  the  House  once,  having  been  the  subject  of  a 
pocket  veto  by  Jackson,  after  the  adjournment  of 
Congress,  still  occupied  his  mind.  But  for  this,  he 
wrote  Brooke  that  he  "  certainly"  would  resign  his 
seat  in  the  Senate.  He  had  no  wish  for  place. 
Nothing  was  i  i  so  abhorrent ' '  to  his  feelings  as  to 
appear  to  be  "  a  teasing  suppliant  for  office."  The 
President' s  position  was  ' l  full  of  care  and  vexa 
tion."  It  could  have  "  no  charms  "  for  him,  unless 
it  should  come  as  a  result  of  "  the  willing  suffrages 
of  a  large  majority  of  his  countrymen."  It  could 
not  come  in  this  way  now.  He  doubted  much 
whether  "  any  successful  opposition"  could  be 
made  against  "  General  Jackson's  designated  suc 
cessor."  He  had  not  been  treated  well  and  had 
"  borne  the  taunts  of  the  Jackson  party  and  prin 
ciples  long  enough."  "What,"  he  asked,  "can 
one  man  do  alone  against  a  host  ?  "  He  was  "worn 
oat  and  exhausted  in  the  service."  He  wished  and 
needed  "repose." 

In  a  letter  to  Brooke  a  few  months  later  he  con 
tinued  to  express  despairing  views.  The  country 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  361. 


THE  WAE  AGAINST  JACKSON         219 

was  governed  "  pretty  much  by  the  will  of  one 
man."  "If  that  single  man,"  said  he,  "  were  an 
enlightened  philosopher,  and  a  true  patriot,  the 
popular  sanction  which  is  given  to  all  his  acts, 
however  inconsistent  or  extravagant,  might  find 
some  justification.  But  when  we  consider  that  he 
is  ignorant,  passionate,  hypocritical,  corrupt  and 
easily  swayed  by  the  base  men  who  surround  him, 
what  can  we  think  of  the  popular  approbation 
which  he  receives?'7  One  thing  only  was  wanted 
to  complete  the  public  degradation,  and  that  was 
"  that  he  should  name  his  successor.  .  .  .  His 
election  once  secured,  the  corrupt  means  of  preserv 
ing  and  perpetuating  power,  now  in  successful  oper 
ation  at  Albany,  will  be  transferred  to  Washington. 
And  there  we  shall  have  a  state  of  things  which  will 
prepare  the  public  mind  for  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  to  which,  unfortunately,  there  is  less  aver 
sion  now  than  could  be  wished  by  those  who  love 
their  country.  I  hope  that  I  may  be  deceived  in 
these  predictions  ;  but  I  fear  I  will  not."  ' 

But  these  were  unhappy  moods  which  came  upon 
him  at  "  Ashland,"  when  out  of  sight  and  hearing 
of  that  legion  of  friends  whose  devotion  excelled 
any  ever  accorded  to  a  public  man  in  America. 
He  had  contemplated  a  trip  in  the  summer 
to  New  England,  by  way  of  Niagara  Falls  and 
the  Canadian  cities  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  he 
had  never  seen.  He  was  obliged  to  postpone  his 
departure  until  the  autumn,  however,  and  then 
changed  his  course  so  that  he  both  went  and  came 
by  New  York  City.  Though  he  sought  to  travel  in 

1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  368-369. 


220  HENRY  CLAY 

privacy,  this,  as  usual,  was  not  to  be  his  fate.  "  His 
whole  route,"  says  a  contemporary  biographer1 
' '  was  like  the  movement  of  some  mighty  conqueror 
— almost  one  unbroken  triumphal  procession." 

In  New  York  a  large  company  of  prominent  citi 
zens  on  horseback  escorted  him  to  his  lodgings. 
The  Governor's  Kooin  in  the  City  Hall  was  put  al 
his  disposal.  There  he  received  all  sorts  and  condi 
tions  of  men  who  came  to  pay  their  respects.  In 
New  England,  shops  and  factories  were  closed,  so 
that  all  classes  of  the  people  could  go  out  to  see  and 
welcome  him.  Silver  pitchers  and  other  testimoni 
als  of  affection  were  presented.  "  I  was  taken  into 
custody,"  he  said  in  one  of  his  many  speeches 
during  the  progress  of  the  journey,  "  made  captive 
of,  but  placed  withal  in  such  delightful  bondage 
that  I  could  find  no  strength  and  no  desire  to  break 
away  from  it."  He  reached  Washington  in  time  for 
the  opening  of  the  session,  when  he  could  write  to 
Judge  Brooke  :  '"  My  journey  was  full  of  gratifica 
tion.  In  spite  of  my  constant  protestations  that  it 
was  undertaken  with  objects  of  a  private  nature  ex 
clusively,  and  my  uniformly  declining  public  din 
ners,  the  people  everywhere,  and  at  most  places 
without  discrimination  of  parties,  took  possession 
of  me  and  gave  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of 
respect,  attachment  and  confidence.  In  looking 
back  on  the  scenes  through  which  I  passed,  they 
seem  to  me  to  have  resembled  those  of  enchantment 
more  than  of  real  life. ' ' 

The  first  question  to  confront  the  Senate  of  the 
new  Congress  was  a  message  from  Jackson  concern- 
'Mallory,  Vol.  I,  p.  65. 


THE  WAE  AGAINST  JACKSON        221 

ing  the  land  bill  which  he  had  pocketed  in  March. 
This  was  entirely  gratuitous.  It  was  another  Con 
gress  and  the  bill  was  dead,  but  the  President  wished 
to  fling  the  "  carcass  "  l  at  Clay's  feet.  It  was  vain 
to  say  that  Jackson  himself  had  asked  for  the  pas 
sage  of  a  land  bill.  He  did  not  want  it  now ;  in  many 
ways  this  one  did  not  conform  to  his  wishes.  It 
only  remained  for  Clay  to  say  that  to  withhold  the 
veto  until  this  time  was  arbitrary,  unconstitutional 
and  despotic,  and  that  he  would  on  the  following 
Tuesday  ask  leave  to  introduce  a  new  bill  with 
similar  purposes  in  view. 

This  question  was  wholly  dwarfed,  however,  by 
the  sudden  and  surprising  resolution  of  the  Presi 
dent  to  remove  the  government  deposits  from  the 
United  States  Bank,  and  accomplish  the  ruin  of  the 
"  monster,"  as  he  persisted  in  denominating  and 
regarding  it.  Incidentally,  he  would  disturb,  if 
he  did  not  paralyze,  credit  and  trade,  but  this 
was  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  pleasure  of 
executing  his  dear  purpose  in  relation  to  a  hated 
establishment.  The  storm  broke  at  once.  In  his 
message  to  Congress  in  1832  Jackson  had  ques 
tioned  the  safety  of  the  government  moneys  in 
the  hands  of  the  bank  and  its  branches,  and  the 
House  had  ordered  an  examination.  By  a  vote  of 
109  to  46  it  was  determined  that  there  was  no  ground 
whatever  for  alarm.  Jackson  went  ahead  without 
regard  to  this  opinion.  He  had  resolved  to  take 
the  deposits  away  from  the  bank,  and  to  ruin  it. 
His  only  course  was  through  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  was  clothed  with  the  right  to  decide 
1  Coltoo,  Vol.  V,  p.  570. 


222  HENBY  CLAY 

where  the  deposits  were  to  be  placed.  In  May, 
1833,  he  reconstructed  his  cabinet  with  this  object 
in  view,  transferring  McLane,  known  to  favor  the 
bank,  to  the  Department  of  State,  and  putting  at 
the  head  of  the  Treasury  William  J.  Duane,  of 
Philadelphia,  the  son  of  the  well-known  editor  of 
the  Aurora,  the  vitriolic  newspaper  which  had  been 
so  powerful  in  the  work  of  driving  the  Federalists 
out  of  office  in  1801.  It  was  believed  that  he  would 
be  a  willing  tool,  though  Jackson  erred  in  his  judg 
ment  completely.  So  extraordinary,  indeed  revo 
lutionary,  did  the  suggestion  seem  to  be  that  Duane 
refused  to  obey  the  order  when  Jackson  sent  it  to 
him.  Nor  would  he  resign.  If  he  were  to  go,  it 
would  be  by  removal  from  office,  which  was 
promptly  effected  by  the  President  who,  late  hi 
September,  1833,  transferred  Eoger  B.  Taney  from 
the  Attorney -Generalship  to  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment. 

Taney  complied  at  once.  Nearly  $10,000,000 
were  in  the  bank,  and  when  these  funds  were  with 
drawn,  no  more  were  to  be  deposited  to  replace  them. 
The  public  money  henceforth,  at  the  Secretary's  dis 
cretion,  was  to  be  put  in  state  banks,  soon  known 
therefore  as  "pet  banks."  The  fiscal  affairs  of 
the  country  were  immediately  thrown  into  great 
excitement,  and  the  condition  of  the  stock  and 
money  markets  approached  a  panic.  The  papers 
bearing  upon  this  unusual  procedure  came  into  the 
Twenty-third  Congress  at  its  opening  and  the  three 
leaders  of  the  Senate,  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun, 
were  on  duty,  side  by  side,  ready  to  oppose  Jack 
son  with  all  their  resources  and  abilities.  It  was 


THE  WAR  AGAINST  JACKSON         223 

one  of  the  most  remarkable  sessions  of  Congress 
which  the  country  has  ever  seen.  The  public 
crowded  the  galleries  as  though  it  were  a  play. 
Such  oratory,  such  parliamentary  finesse,  such 
clever  retort  and  debate  had  not  been  heard  before 
in  any  legislative  hall  in  America. 

Mr.  Clay  opened  the  fire  upon  the  President  on 
December  10th,  asking  him  to  lay  before  the  Senate 
a  paper  concerning  the  removal  of  the  deposits, 
which  led  Jackson  to  reply  that  it  was  no  affair  of 
the  Senate ;  his  responsibility  was  to  the  people. 
It  was  December  26th  before  Clay's  artillery  was 
fully  charged.  Then  he  introduced  two  resolutions 
as  follows  : 

"Resolved,  that  by  dismissing  the  late  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  because  he  would  not,  contrary  to 
his  sense  of  his  own  duty,  remove  the  money  of  the 
United  States  in  deposit  with  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  and  its  branches  in  conformity  with 
the  President's  opinion,  and  by  appointing  his 
successor  to  effect  such  removal,  which  has  been 
done,  the  President  has  assumed  the  exercise  of  a 
power  over  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  not 
granted  to  him  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

"Resolved,  that  the  reasons  assigned  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  removal  of  the 
money  of  the  United  States,  deposited  in  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  and  its  branches,  communicated 
to  Congress  on  the  3d  of  December,  1833,  are  un 
satisfactory  and  insufficient." 

Clay  followed  the  introduction  of  these  resolutions 
with  a  speech  which  was  in  his  most  effective 


224  HEKRY  CLAY 

manner.  It  continued  for  two  days,  and  rang  uj 
and  down  the  Capitol,  soon  to  reverberate  througl, 
all  the  land.  He  wasted  no  time  in  going  aboui 
the  work  in  hand,  for  these  were  the  words  witl 
which  he  began  : 

11  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  revolution  hitherto 
bloodless,  but  rapidly  tending  toward  a  total  chaugo 
of  the  pure  republican  character  of  the  government 
and  to  the  concentration  of  all  power  in  the  handM 
of  one  man." 

His  arraignment  was  strong  and  impressive 
That  Jackson  had  usurped  authority,  strained  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution,  consulted  his  own 
will  only  in  regard  to  great  public  matters,  and 
defied  the  legislature  and  other  coordinate  branches 
of  the  government,  needed  no  particular  demon 
stration.  Though  he  still  could  do  no  wrong  in 
the  view  of  vast  numbers  of  the  people,  Clay  did 
not  hesitate  on  this  account.  Some  hyperbole  may 
seem  to  lurk  in  the  words  with  which  he  closed  his 
remarkable  second  day's  speech,  but  they  were 
spoken  with  absolute  sincerity,  and  they  seemed  to 
be  the  natural  climax  of  his  argument. 

"We  behold,"  he  said,  "the  usual  incidents  of 
approaching  tyranny.  The  laud  is  filled  with  spies 
and  informers  ;  and  detraction  and  denunciation 
are  the  orders  of  the  day.  People,  especially 
official  incumbents  in  this  place,  no  longer  dare  to 
speak  in  the  fearless  tones  of  manly  freedom,  but 
in  the  cautious  whispers  of  trembling  slaves.  The 
premonitory  symptoms  of  despotism  are  upon  us, 
and  if  Congress  do  not  apply  an  instantaneous  and 
effective  remedy,  the  fatal  collapse  will  soon  come 


THE  WAK  AGAINST  JACKSON         225 

on  and  we  shall  die,  base,  mean  and  abject  slaves 
—the  scorn  and  contempt  of  mankind — unpilied, 
unwept,  uninourned." 

The  distress  occasioned  among  business  men  by 
the  removal  of  the  deposits,  and  a  political  war 
upon  the  country's  most  powerful  fiscal  agency  was 
real.  Any  intelligent  Executive,  properly  sensitive 
to  the  consequences  of  his  actions,  could  not  have 
adopted  such  a  policy.  But  a  rare  bigot  when  once 
animated  to  any  course,  and  with  a  determination  to 
enforce  his  commands,  borrowed  from  the  battle-field, 
the  only  experience  in  which  his  life  had  been  rich, 
Jackson  went  forward  without  regard  for  the  fact 
that  the  bank  was  performing  all  its  functions  in  an 
honest  and  effectual  way  ;  that  no  other  agency  was 
at  hand  to  fill  its  place  ;  and  that  interference  with 
its  operations  would  bring  evil,  if  not  ruin,  to  multi 
tudes  of  people.  They  sent  their  petitions  to 
Congress  day  after  day,  and  Clay  and  Webster 
with  great  solemnity  and  eloquence  presented  them 
in  the  Senate. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  scenes  of  the  session 
was  witnessed  on  March  7,  1834,  when  in  bringing 
forward  a  memorial  of  a  number  of  sufferers  in 
Philadelphia,  Clay  addressed  himself  directly  to 
Jackson's  favorite  and  chosen  legatee  who,  as  Vice- 
President,  was  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate. 
So  earnest  did  the  orator  become  that  he  quite  un 
consciously,  it  is  said,  left  his  place,  still  speaking 
in  the  most  impassioned  way,  with  all  the  effective 
gestures  that  accompanied  his  delivery,  till  he  stood 
directly  before  the  Vice-President's  desk,  where  he 
continued  his  entreaties.  "  By  your  official  and 


226  HENRY  CLAY 

personal  relations  with  the  President,"  said  Clay, 
"  you  maintain  with  him  an  intercourse  which  I 
neither  enjoy  nor  covet.  Go  to  him  and  tell  him, 
without  exaggeration  but  in  the  language  of  trut  h 
and  sincerity,  the  actual  condition  of  his  bleeding 
country.  Tell  him  it  is  nearly  ruined  and  undone 
by  the  measures  which  he  has  been  induced  to  put 
in  operation.  Tell  him  that  his  experiment  is 
operating  on  the  nation  like  the  philosopher's  ex 
periment  upon  a  convulsed  animal  in  an  exhaust*  d 
receiver,  and  that  it  must  expire  in  agony  if  lie 
does  not  pause,  give  it  free  and  sound  circulation, 
and  suffer  the  energies  of  the  people  to  be  revived 
and  restored.  .  .  .  Depict  to  him,  if  you  can 
find  language  to  portray,  the  heartrending  wretch 
edness  of  thousands  of  the  working  classes  cast  out 
of  employment.  Tell  him  of  the  tears  of  helpless 
widows,  no  longer  able  to  earn  their  bread  ;  and  of 
unclad  and  unfed  orphans  who  have  been  thrown 
by  his  policy  out  of  the  busy  pursuits  in  which  but 
yesterday  they  were  gaining  an  honest  liveli 
hood.  .  .  .  Tell  him  to  guard  himself  against 
the  possibility  of  an  odious  comparison,  with  that 
worst  of  the  Eoman  emperors  who,  contemplating 
with  indifference  the  conflagration  of  the  mistress 
of  the  world,  regaled  himself  during  the  terrific 
scene  in  the  throng  of  his  dancing  courtiers.  .  .  . 
Entreat  him  to  pause  and  to  reflect  that  there  is  a 
point  beyond  which  human  endurance  cannot  go  ; 
and  let  him  not  drive  this  brave,  generous  and 
patriotic  people  to  madness  and  despair." 

Thus  did  Clay  pour  out  a  fire  that  seemed  to  come 
from  his  very  soul.     He  knew  that  he  had  left  the 


THE  WAK  AGAINST  JACKSON         227 

" beaten  track"  of  debate;  his  apology  must  be 
found  in  "  the  anxious  solicitude  which  I  feel  for 
the  condition  of  the  country."  He  hoped  that  he 
had  touched  the  Vice-President's  heart  and  excited 
in  him  "  a  glow  of  patriotism."  How  successful  he 
had  been  he  soon  learned  when  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  speech,  the  "  old  fox,"  who  had  been  looking  at 
Clay  as  though  he  were  absorbing  every  word  in 
order  to  have  it  in  hand  to  carry  to  his  chief,  called 
another  to  the  chair,  and  going  down  upon  the  floor 
gravely  asked  Clay  for  a  pinch  of  his  fine  Maccaboy 
snuff,  whereupon,  having  received  it,  he  quite  as 
gravely  walked  away.  Of  course,  nothing  at  all 
came  of  this  impassioned  appeal ;  though  at  a  pub 
lic  meeting  in  Philadelphia  it  was  resolved  "that 
Martin  Van  Buren  deserves  and  will  receive  the 
execration  of  all  good  men  should  he  shirk  from  the 
responsibility  of  carrying  to  Andrew  Jackson  the 
message  sent  by  the  Honorable  Henry  Clay." 

On  March  28th  Clay's  resolutions  with  some  im 
material  amendments  were  passed  :  that  by  which 
the  President  was  accused  of  an  unconstitutional 
act,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six  to  twenty  ;  the  other  by 
which  the  reasons  given  for  the  removal  of  the  de 
posits  were  declared  to  be  "  unsatisfactory  and  in 
sufficient,"  by  a  vote  of  twenty-eight  to  eighteen. 

A  joint  resolution  offered  by  Clay,  directing  a 
restoration  of  the  deposits  to  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  also  passed  the  Senate,  though  it  failed  in 
the  House  which  was  in  control  of  the  Jackson 
men.  There  was  now  war  to  the  knife,  between  the 
President  and  the  Senate.  In  response  to  Clay's 
resolutions  of  censure,  Jackson  sent  a  " protest" 


228  HENRY  CLAY 

which  he  demanded  should  be  entered  upon  the 
journal  of  the  Senate.  That  body  refused  to  receive 
it,  denying  such  a  right  on  the  part  of  the  Presi  - 
dent.  Sixteen  senators  voted  to  enter  the  l  i  prt  - 
test,"  while  twenty-seven  voted  not  to  do  so,  after 
three  weeks  of  fierce  debate  with  Clay,  Webster  ami 
Calhoun  on  one  side,  and  Ben  ton  leading  on  the, 
other  in  Jackson's  defense.  The  President  was 
roundly  denounced  for  usurpations  of  office  in  not 
forwarding  the  nomination  of  Taney,  whom  he  had 
chosen  to  do  his  bidding  in  reference  to  the  removal 
of  the  deposits,  after  two  other  secretaries  had  re 
fused.  He  knew,  of  course,  that  it  would  be  re 
jected.  The  Senate  refused  to  confirm  the  names  of 
four  men  appointed  directors  of  the  United  States 
Bank.  Jackson  returned  them  with  a  scolding, 
and  the  Senate  refused  again.  The  Speaker  of  the, 
House  of  Representatives,  Andrew  Stevenson,  of 
Virginia,  was  nominated  for  Minister  to  England. 
The  name  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1834  Taney' s  name  finally  arrived  ;  it  was, 
of  course,  voted  down,  as  expected,  an  act  which 
furiously  enraged  Jackson,  who  was  nevertheless 
obliged  to  appoint  Levi  Woodbury  in  his  place, 
and  hold  Taney  for  a  vacancy  on  the  Supreme 
Bench. 

The  session  ended  with  no  net  gain  except  a 
fanfare  of  oratory,  and  the  conviction  which 
promptly  "settled  upon  the  country  that  Jackson 
had  made  an  end  of  the  bank.  Business  might,  as 
soon  as  it  could,  accommodate  itself  to  the  new  con 
ditions  under  which  it  must  operate,  and  this  it 
proceeded  to  do  with  more  success  than  Clay  or  any 


THE  WAK  AGAINST  JACKSON         229 

of  his  friends  had  thought  possible  when  they  so 
vigorously  denounced  the  action  of  the  President. 
In  the  elections  of  1834  a  considerable  accession  to 
the  anti- Jackson  strength  was  seen.  It  was  in  this 
year  that  Clay  in  Congress  gave  his  party  the  name 
which  ever  afterward  attached  to  it.  He  called 
himself  and  his  followers  Whigs,  likening  them  to 
the  Whigs  of  England,  "  the  champions  of  liberty, 
the  friends  of  the  people"  ;  while  upon  his  op 
ponents  he  attempted,  though  unsuccessfully,  to 
fasten  the  name  of  Tories,  u  supporters  of  execu 
tive  power,  of  royal  prerogative,  of  the  maxim  that 
the  king  could  do  no  wrong,  of  the  detestable  doc 
trines  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance," 
recalling  the  much  hated  element  in  the  American 
population  during  the  Eevolutionary  War.1 

With  the  passing  of  conditions  of  distress  in 
the  business  world,  however,  the  "hero"  seemed 
greater  than  ever  before.  Clay  could  say  that  the 
evils  suffered  in  business  circles  were  not  so  endur 
ing  as  he  had  once  feared  and  supposed,  but  he 
could  insist  that  Jackson's  course  was  no  less  high 
handed  and  in  violation  of  constitutional  authority. 
Little  enough  did  the  hordes  which  "Old  Hick 
ory"  led  care  about  the  Constitution.  The  bank, 
broken  on  the  wheel  of  his  iron  will,  seemed  to  the 
masses,  from  whom  his  strength  was  recruited,  the 
odious  monopoly  which  he  declared  it  to  be,  and  he 
emerged  in  victory. 

Mr.  Clay  was  soon  called  upon  to  subordinate  all 
partisan  reflections,  to  subdue  his  feelings,  as  much 
outraged  as  they  had  been,  to  the  work  of  extri- 
1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  629. 


230  HENKY  CLAY 

eating  the  country  from  a  critical  situation  on  a 
foreign  question,  into  which  it  had  been  brought  b> 
Jackson's  hot  impulses.  France  by  a  treaty  signed 
in  Paris  on  July  4,  1831,  had  agreed  to  pay  tlu 
United  States  $5,000,000  to  indemnify  the  uatiou 
for  damages  sustained  by  its  shipping  during  UK 
wars  of  Napoleon.  The  first  instalment  was  due, 
and  should  have  been  paid  on  February  2,  1833,  but 
the  French  parliament  failed  to  make  any  provisiou 
for  it,  and  it  was  suggested  to  Jackson  that  IK 
refer  to  the  matter  in  his  annual  message  tc 
Congress  in  1834.  This  he  did  in  language  which 
he  would  have  employed  in  his  dealings  with  Henry 
Clay,  Nicholas  Biddle  or  William  J.  Duaue.  He 
recommended  to  Congress  that  i  i  a  law  be  passed 
authorizing  reprisals  upon  French  property,  in  case 
provision  shall  not  be  made  for  the  payment  of  the 
debt  at  the  approaching  session  of  the  French 
Chambers."  These  were  the  words  of  one  mani 
festly  inexperienced  in  diplomacy  and  they  were 
well  calculated  to  cause  grave  offense. 

When  the  mails  carried  the  news  to  Europe  the 
French  government,  in  response  to  popular  clamor, 
recalled  its  minister  at  Washington,  and  gave  our 
representative  in  Paris  his  conge,  at  once  making  the 
situation  one  of  much  gravity.  Clearly  something 
must  be  done  and  attention  was  again  turned  to 
Clay.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  in  the  Senate,  he  took  up  the  recommend 
ations  of  the  message,  and  it  was  his  task,  while  in 
a  measure  supporting  the  President  and  preserving 
the  national  amour  propre,  to  propitiate  France, 
which  clearly  had  aright  to  better  treatment,  if  there 


THE  WAR  AGAINST  JACKSON         231 

were  to  be  a  continuance  of  good  feeling  between 
the  two  powers.  The  breach  was  delicately  ap 
proached,  and  further  rupture  avoided  by  the  re 
port  of  Clay's  committee,  which  offered  the  following 
resolution  to  the  Senate  : 

u  Resolved,  that  it  is  inexpedient  at  this  time  to 
pass  any  law  vesting  in  the  President  authority  for 
making  reprisals  upon  French  property,  in  the  con 
tingency  of  provision  not  being  made  for  paying  to 
the  United  States  the  indemnity  stipulated  by  the 
treaty  of  1831,  during  the  present  session  of  the 
French  Chambers." 

He  did  not  enter  upon  any  defense  of  Jackson  for 
his  indiscreet  language  ;  that  he  could  not  do.  Yet 
he  refrained  from  the  energetic  denunciation  which 
such  action  might  have  been  held  to  deserve,  and 
would  have  received,  no  doubt,  had  it  involved  only 
the  nation' s  domestic  concerns.  With  slight  changes 
of  phraseology,  the  resolution  passed  the  Senate  by 
a  unanimous  vote,  and  the  object  was  accomplished. 
The  French  legislative  chambers  were  mollified  and 
after  a  few  characteristic  passages,  which  in  1836 
again  seemed  to  point  to  war,  the  money  was  paid 
and  the  trouble  came  to  an  end. 

There  was  an  echo  of  the  sentiments  which  Mr. 
Clay  had  expressed  in  1819  on  the  subject  of  the 
Seminole  War,  and  at  other  times  in  reference  to 
the  Indians,  in  what  it  was  his  pleasure  to  say  in 
February,  1835,  in  presenting  a  memorial  to  the  Sen 
ate  on  behalf  of  the  Cherokees  of  Georgia.  He  was 
again  "the  Great  Commoner,"  with  an  awakened 
sympathy  for  the  downtrodden  and  oppressed.  In 
Georgia  Indians  had  been  driven  from  their  lands, 


232  HENKY  CLAY 

and  it  was  asked  that  aid  be  given  to  enable  them 
to  remove  beyond  the  Mississippi. 

It  was  a  severe  indictment  of  the  state  of  Georgia 
for  robbing  the  aborigines  of  their  lauds,  in  viola 
tion  of  solemn  treaty  provisions,  iterated  and  often 
confirmed,  into  which  Clay  courageously  launched. 
No  fear  of  giving  offense  deterred  him  when  he  saw 
a  wrong  to  be  denounced.  The  Indians,  he  said, 
were  a  part  of  the  human  race,  u  as  capable  of  pleas 
ure  and  pain,  and  invested  with  as  indisputable  a 
right,  as  we  have,  to  judge  of  and  pursue  their  hap 
piness.  Thrust  out  from  human  society,  without 
the  sympathies  of  any,  and  placed  without  the  pale 
of  common  justice,  who  is  there  to  protect  him,  or 
to  defend  his  rights  !  "  "  It  is  said,"  he  continued, 
"  that  annihilation  is  the  destiny  of  the  Indian  race. 
Perhaps  it  is,  judging  from  the  past.  But  shall  we 
therefore  hasten  it  ?  Death  is  the  irreversible  decree 
pronounced  against  the  human  race.  Shall  we  ac 
celerate  its  approach,  because  it  is  inevitable  ?  Kb, 
vSir.  Let  us  treat  with  the  utmost  kindness,  and  the 
most  perfect  justice  the  aborigines  whom  Providence 
has  committed  to  our  guardianship.  Let  us  confer 
upon  them,  if  we  can,  the  inestimable  blessings  of 
Christianity  and  civilization,  and  then,  if  they  must 
sink  beneath  the  progressive  wave  of  civilized  pop 
ulation,  we  are  free  from  all  reproach  and  stand  ac 
quitted  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man." 

Such  sentiments,  noble  as  they  were,  seemed  like 
empty  rhetoric  to  most  men,  and  they  were  unhap 
pily  without  influence  in  altering  the  policy  toward 
the  Indians. 

'Coltoii,  Vol.  V,  p.  655. 


THE  WAK  AGAINST  JACKSON         233 

Ail  opportunity  for  the  continuation  of  the  cam 
paign  against  Jackson,  while  at  the  same  time  dis 
cussing  a  vital  public  question,  was  found  in  Febru 
ary,  1835,  when  an  effort  was  put  forth  to  curb  the 
President  in  the  baneful  practice  of  removing  faith 
ful  men  from  office  to  make  places  for  his  partisans. 
Clay  was  glad  to  return  to  the  topic.  He  never 
ceased  to  denounce  this  mischievous  change  of  pub 
lic  custom,  and  now  in  the  Senate,  with  the  support 
of  most  of  the  able  leaders  in  that  body — leaders  who 
at  the  time  were  unsurpassed  for  their  brilliant  qua  1  - 
ities — he  attempted  to  show  that  the  practice  was  as 
unconstitutional  as  it  was  inexpedient.  The  debate 
was  concentrated  around  a  bill  to  repeal  a  law  of 
1820,  limiting  the  tenure  of  certain  offices  to  a  four- 
year  term.  Some  of  Jackson's  firmest  friends  de 
serted  him  upon  this  issue  and  the  measure  was 
passed  in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  thirty-one  to  six 
teen. 

Again  in  the  session  of  1835-1836  Clay  brought  for 
ward  and  spoke  in  advocacy  of  his  plan  for  distrib 
uting  among  the  states  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of 
the  public  lands.  He  recalled  that  the  issue  had 
been  forced  upon  him  by  the  Jackson  men  in  order 
to  embarrass  him  as  a  presidential  candidate  in 
1832.  Under  this  impulse  he  had  studied  the  ques 
tion,  and  developed  a  policy  to  which  he  attached 
great  value.  A  bill,  embodying  it,  which  had  passed 
Congress  near  the  end  of  the  session  in  1833  had 
been  killed  by  Jackson  in  what  seemed  to  many 
a  wholly  unconstitutional  manner.  Clay  believed 
that  if  it  had  been  returned  with  a  veto  by 
the  President,  it  could  have  been  passed  over  that 


234  HENRY  CLAY 

veto,  and  the  states  would  now  have  been  in  the  en 
joyment  of  the  money,  which  it  was  beneficently 
designed  that  they  should  use  in  behalf  of  internal 
improvements,  education  and  the  transportation  to 
Africa  of  free  negroes.  Instead  of  this  the  national 
surplus  was  scattered  about  "  in  parcels  among  petty 
corporations."  It  was  "applied  to  increase  the 
semi-annual  dividends  of  favorite  stockholders  in 
favorite  banks."  l 

But  the  bill,  though  it  was  passed  by  the  Senate, 
failed  in  the  House  where  Jackson  was  still  in 
power.  Clay,  in  the  eyes  of  the  country  at  this 
time,  seemed  to  be  not  so  great  and  so  preeminent  a 
figure,  as  four  years  before.  His  party  was  devel 
oping  other  leaders,  and,  though  he  did  not  envy 
them  their  distinction,  it  was  a  new  sensation  to 
hear  others  spoken  of  as  suitable  to  direct  it  in  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1836.  After  Clay's  over 
whelming  defeat  in  1832,  many  believed  and  said 
that  another  name  should  be  put  forward.  A  little 
surprised,  not  unnaturally,  at  the  resourcefulness 
of  a  party  which  seemed  to  be  of  his  own  creation, 
too  much  can  easily  be  made  of  this  fact.  That  he 
was  a  seeker  for  the  presidency  is  an  assumption 
with  which  every  biographer  of  Clay  sets  out,  and 
Schurz's  assertions  at  least  are  based  upon  only  one 
letter  in  Col  ton's  collection  addressed  to  an  un 
known  correspondent.2  There  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  Mr.  Clay  had  the  least  desire  to  be  the  Whig 
nominee  in  the  hopeless  contest  which  approached. 

1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  31. 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  392.     Written  from  "  Ashland," 
July  14,  1835. 


THE  WAE  AGAINST  JACKSON        235 

He  knew  full  well,  by  sad  experience,  Jackson's 
strength  with  the  people.  He  had  for  two  or  three 
years  foreseen  Van  Buren's  nomination  and  election 
with  the  corrupt  support  of  the  administration,  and 
no  one  could  have  had  a  better  right  to  discuss  the 
respective  chances  of  Daniel  Webster,  Judge  Hugh 
L.  White,  of  Tennessee,  now  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  lately  turned  against  Jackson,  whose 
warm  friend  he  had  earlier  been,  and  General  Wil 
liam  Henry  Harrison,  who  had  administered  a 
famous  defeat  to  a  party  of  Indians  at  Tippecanoe 
in  1811,  an  "  old  hero  "  fit  for  a  joust  with  Jack 
son. 

The  Whigs  in  truth  were  so  disorganized  that 
they  went  into  the  campaign  without  having  held  a 
national  convention.  It  was  their  hope  by  support 
ing  men  of  strength  in  their  respective  sections  to 
throw  the  election  into  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  and  bring  about  a  situation  similar  to  that 
which  had  elevated  John  Quincy  Adams  to  the 
presidency  in  1824  ;  but  the  plan  which  had  Clay's 
approval,  if  indeed  he  were  not  the  originator  of  it, 
failed,  for  Van  Buren  received  170  out  of  294  elec 
toral  votes,  a  clear  majority.  Harrison  secured 
seventy-three  votes  from  Vermont,  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Ohio  and  Indiana. 
White  carried  Georgia  and  Jackson's  own  state, 
Tennessee  ;  Webster,  Massachusetts  ;  while  South 
Carolina  instructed  its  eleven  electors  to  vote  for 
W.  P.  Mangum. 

To  a  man  of  Mr.  Clay's  disposition  come  fits  of 
despondency,  and  at  this  time  there  was  enough 
reason  for  one  without  believing  that  the  choice  of 


236  HENEY  CLAY 

other  candidates  by  the  Whigs  in  1836  had  anything 
materially  to  do  with  this  state  of  his  mind.  The 
malignities  of  Jackson  and  his  friends,  now  con 
tinuously  directed  against  Clay — he  was  the  princi 
pal  object  of  them  all — for  nearly  twelve  years, 
were  hard  to  bear,  especially  when  they  seemed  to 
have  the  endorsement  of  the  nation,  in  so  far  as  this 
could  be  gauged  by  popular  elections.  Late  in  1835 
he  lost  his  favorite  and  last  surviving  daughter, 
Mrs.  Erwin.  In  June,  1836,  James  Madison,  with 
whom  Mr.  Clay  had  always  had  the  friendliest  re 
lations,  died,  and  when  he  was  not  under  some  ex 
citement,  gloom  was  likely  to  possess  his  mind. 

Though  he  was  to  be  reflected  to  the  Senate  by 
the  legislature  of  Kentucky  in  the  winter  of  1836- 
1837,  Clay  often  spoke  of  retiring  to  private  life 
which,  however,  he  must  have  known  that  he  could 
not  sincerely  enjoy.  It  has  always  been  a  resource 
of  public  men  to  retire  to  the  homes  whence  they 
have  come,  but  the  exhilaration  of  directing  public 
affairs  is  so  great  that,  after  many  years  in  service 
of  this  kind,  and  especially  in  parliamentary  leader 
ship,  such  as  it  had  been  Clay's  part  to  play,  with 
drawal  cannot  be  viewed  with  real  pleasure.  There 
was  truth  in  the  letter  which  he  wrote  to  a  number 
of  his  admirers  in  New  York  in  the  summer  of  1837  : 

11 1  have  not  for  several  years  looked  to  the  event 
of  my  being  placed  in  the  chair  of  Chief  Magistrate 
as  one  that  was  probable.  My  feelings  and  inten 
tions  have  taken  a  different  direction.  While  I  am 
not  insensible  to  the  exalted  honor  of  filling  the 
highest  office  within  the  gift  of  this  great  people,  I 
have  desired  retirement  from  the  cares  of  public 


THE  AVAR  AGAINST  JACKSON         237 

life  ;  and,  although  I  have  not  been  able  fully  to 
gratify  this  wish,  I  am  in  the  enjoyment  of  compara 
tive  repose  and  looking  anxiously  forward  to  more. 
I  should  be  extremely  unwilling,  without  very 
strong  reasons,  to  be  thrown  into  the  turmoil  of  a 
presidential  canvass.  Above  all,  I  am  most  de 
sirous  not  to  seem,  as  in  truth  I  am  not,  importu 
nate  for  any  public  office  whatever.  If  I  were  per 
suaded  that  a  majority  of  my  fellow  citizens  desired 
to  place  me  in  the  highest  executive  office,  that 
sense  of  duty  by  which  I  have  ever  been  guided 
would  exact  obedience  to  their  will.  Candor 
obliges  me,  however,  to  say  that  I  have  not  seen 
sufficient  evidence  that  they  entertain  such  a  de 
sire."  l 

Mr.  Clay's  displeasure  was  complete,  as  his  term 
of  six  years  as  a  senator  came  to  an  end,  and  as 
Jackson  stepped  out,  leaving  his  office  to  his  desig 
nated  successor,  amid  great  popular  acclamation,  on 
March  4,  1837.  It  was  not  diminished  by  the  fact 
that  the  resolution  of  censure  for  assumptions  of 
power,  which  Clay  had  introduced  into  the  Senate, 
and  which  had  been  passed  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six 
to  twenty  on  March  28,  1834,  had  a  little  while  be 
fore  been  expunged  from  the  journals.  This  re 
markable  procedure  was  taken  under  the  leadership 
of  Benton,  Jackson's  particular  representative  in 
the  Senate,  who  soon  after  its  passage  had  an 
nounced  his  intention  of  making  the  motion.  If  it 
did  not  pass,  he  would  repeat  it  again  and  again 
until  Jackson  should  be  freed  of  this  imputation 
upon  his  honor  and  intelligence.  Beuton  pursued 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  417. 


238  HENRY  CLAY 

the  subject  with  inflexible  determination.  At  the 
second  session  of  the  Congress  which  had  passed  the 
resolution,  the  proposal  was  voted  down  decisively 
thirty-nine  to  seven.  The  fourth  time  he  brought 
the  matter  before  the  Senate  at  the  session  of  1836- 
1837,  the  Jackson  men  had  at  last  gained  a  majority 
in  that  chamber.  The  legislatures  of  several  states 
had  instructed  their  senators  to  vote  for  the  expung 
ing  resolution,  and  it  became  a  national  issue  on  the 
hustings  and  in  the  newspapers. 

Benton,  on  December  26,  1836,  the  anniversary  of 
the  day  upon  which  Clay  had  moved  the  censure, 
again  introduced  the  resolution  with  the  knowledge 
that  if  he  could  hold  Jackson's  friends  together,  he 
would  succeed.  Benton  himself  had  a  wish  to  ob 
literate  the  record,  to  stamp  it  out  so  that  it  could 
not  be  read.  The  senators  upon  whom  he  felt  that 
he  could  rely  were  assembled  at  Boulanger's  res 
taurant,  a  famous  place  of  resort  in  the  Washington 
of  the  day,  on  the  evening  of  January  14,  1837. 
The  meeting  lasted  until  after  midnight.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  resolution  should  be  called  up  on 
the  following  Monday  and  that  there  should  be  no 
adjournment  until  it  had  passed.  "  Cold  hams, 
turkeys,  rounds  of  beef,  pickles,  wines  and  cups  of  hot 
coffee"  were  to  be  supplied  to  the  faithful  senators 
in  a  committee-room  within  convenient  access  to  the 
Senate  chamber.  It  was  agreed  among  them  that 
the  record  of  the  censure  on  the  manuscript  journal 
should  have  broad  black  lines  drawn  around  it, 
while  across  its  face  in  bold  letters,  were  to  be  written 
the  words — "  Expunged  by  order  of  the  Senate  this 
16th  day  of  January,  1837." 


THE  WAK  AGAINST  JACKSON         2^9 

Not  much  speech  was  indulged  in  by  Bentou  and 
his  friends,  who  wished  to  bring  the  resolution  to  a 
vote  as  soon  as  possible.  But  the  three  great  lead 
ers,  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun,  must  be  heard.1 
While  they  foresaw  the  inevitable  result,  they  had 
a  duty  to  perform,  and  had  no  thought  of  surren 
dering  without  vehement  protest.  Clay  delivered 
in  his  august  style  an  able  discourse  upon  the  sub 
ject.  He  reviewed  Jackson's  extraordinary  course 
in  reference  to  the  removal  of  the  deposits  from  the 
bank.  ' '  I  believed  then  in  the  truth  of  the  resolu 
tion,"  said  Clay,  "  and  I  now  in  my  place  and  under 
all  my  responsibility  re-avow  my  unshaken  convic 
tion  of  it.  .  .  .  I  put  it,  Mr.  President,  to  the 
calm  and  deliberate  consideration  of  the  majority  of 
the  Senate,  are  you  ready  to  pronounce,  in  the  face  of 
this  enlightened  community,  for  all  time  to  come,  and 
whoever  may  happen  to  be  President,  that  the  Senate 
dare  not,  in  language  the  most  inoffensive  and  respect 
ful,  remonstrate  against  any  executive  usurpation, 
whatever  may  be  its  degree  or  danger  ?  For  one  I  will 
not ;  I  cannot.  I  believe  the  resolution  of  March, 
1834,  to  have  been  true  ;  and  that  it  was  competent 
to  the  Senate  to  proclaim  the  truth.  And  I  solemnly 
believe  that  the  Senate  would  have  been  culpably 
neglectful  of  its  duty  to  itself,  to  the  Constitution 
and  to  the  country,  if  it  had  not  announced  the 
truth." 

He  argued,  too,  conclusively,  by  reference  to  the 

experience  of  other  legislative  bodies,  that  a  journal 

is  a  record  of  proceedings  and  that  nothing  which 

has  taken  place  can  be  properly  or  truthfully  de- 

1  Meigs,  Life  of  Benton,  p.  230  et  seq. 


240  HEKEY  CLAY 

dared  not  to  have  taken  place.  ll  Are  you  not  only 
destitute  of  all  authority,"  he  asked,  "but  posi 
tively  forbidden  to  do  what  the  expunging  resolu 
tion  proposes?  The  injunction  of  the  Constitution 
to  keep  a  journal  of  our  proceedings  is  clear,  ex 
press  and  emphatic.  .  .  .  But  I  would  ask  if 
there  were  no  constitutional  requirement  to  keep  a 
journal,  what  constitutional  right  has  the  Senate 
of  this  Congress  to  pass  in  judgment  upon  the  Sen 
ate  of  another  Congress,  and  to  expunge  from  its 
journal  a  deliberate  act  there  recorded?  Can  an 
unconstitutional  act  of  that  Senate,  supposing  it  to 
be  so,  justify  you  in  performing  another  unconstitu 
tional  act  f ' ? 

It  was  a  "dark  deed,"  a  "  foul  deed,"  of  him  who 
had  come  to  exercise  "uncontrolled  the  power  of 
the  state."  "  In  one  hand  he  holds  the  purse  and 
in  the  other  brandishes  the  sword  of  the  country. 
Myriads  of  dependents  and  partisans,  scattered  over 
the  land,  are  ever  ready  to  sing  hosannas  to  him, 
and  to  laud  to  the  skies  whatever  he  does.  He  has 
swept  over  the  government,  during  the  last  eight 
years,  like  a  tropical  tornado,  .  .  .  What  ob 
ject  of  his  ambition  is  unsatisfied?  When  disabled 
from  age  any  longer  to  hold  the  sceptre  of  power,  he 
designates  his  successor  and  transmits  it  to  his  fa 
vorite.  What  more  does  he  want  ?  Must  we  blot, 
deface  and  mutilate  the  records  of  the  country  to 
punish  the  presumptuousness  of  expressing  an 
opinion  contrary  to  his  own  ?" 

"  Cau  you  make  that  not  to  be  which  has  been  ?  " 
Clay  continued  in  one  of  his  finest  bursts.  "Can 
you  eradicate  from  memory  and  from  history  the 


THE  WAR  AGAINST  JACKSON         241 

fact  that  in  March,  1834,  a  majority  of  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  passed  the  resolution  which  ex 
cites  your  enmity  ?  Is  it  your  vain  and  wicked  ob 
ject  to  arrogate  to  yourselves  that  power  of  annihi 
lating  the  past  which  has  been  denied  to  Omnipo 
tence  itself?  Do  you  intend  to  thrust  your  hands 
into  our  hearts,  and  pluck  out  the  deeply  rooted 
convictions  which  are  there?  Or  is  it  your  design 
merely  to  stigmatize  us?  You  cannot  stigmatize 
us: 

"  *  Ne'er  yet  did  base  dishonor  blur  our  name.' 

Standing  securely  upon  our  conscious  rectitude 
and  bearing  aloft  the  shield  of  the  Constitution  of 
our  country,  your  puny  efforts  are  impotent,  and 
we  defy  all  your  power.  Put  the  majority  of  1834 
in  one  scale,  and  that  by  which  this  expunging 
resolution  is  to  be  carried  in  the  other,  and  let  truth 
and  justice,  in  Heaven  above  and  on  the  earth  be 
low,  and  liberty  and  patriotism  decide  the  pre 
ponderance."  ' 

When  the  last  gun  had  thundered,  there  were 
calls  for  a  vote.  It  was  then  near  midnight.  The 
galleries  were  tightly  packed  with  onlookers,  while 
masses  of  people  were  wedged  into  the  lobbies,  and 
even  invaded  the  floor  itself.  Benton,  or  his  friends, 
pretended  to  think  that  he  was  in  danger  of  his  life. 
The  truth  is  that  the  Jackson  regime  had  bred  such 
manners  among  the  people  that  guns  and  bludgeons 
were  in  every-day  use.  The  entire  spirit  of  society, 
no  less  than  that  of  the  government,  had  been 
altered  by  one  extraordinary  man  who  had  made 
1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  58-59. 


242  HENRY  CLAY 

himself  a  kind  of  monarch  over  whom  was  thrown, 
curiously  enough,  a  mantle  of  democracy.  After 
the  vote  was  taken  and  the  Jackson  men  had  won 
by  twenty-four  ayes  to  nineteen  noes,  Benton  in 
sisted  that  the  black  lines  should  be  drawn  around 
the  resolution  at  once.  There  were  groans  and 
hisses  in  a  portion  of  the  galleries  immediately 
above  the  head  of  the  senator  from  Missouri.  The 
chair  was  about  to  have  them  cleared  when  Bentoii, 
in  his  most  dramatic  manner,  objected.  He  wished 
only  the  guilty  to  suffer  ;  he  pointed  to  them,  he 
saw  them,  up  there.  They  were  the  "bank  ruf- 
fians,"  "subaltern  wretches"  he  later  called  them.1 
They  could  no  longer  insult  the  Senate  as  in  other 
days.  They  must  be  seized  by  the  sergeant- at  arms 
and  brought  to  the  bar. 

Clay  had  said  that  if  Jackson  were  "really  the 
hero"  which  his  friends  represented  him  to  be,  he 
would  "reject  with  scorn  and  contempt,  as  un 
worthy  of  his  fame,  your  black  scratches  and  your 
baby  lines  in  the  fair  records  of  his  country."  He, 
however,  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  He  invited  the 
"  expungers  "  and  their  wives  to  a  fine  dinner.  He 
met  the  company,  but  was  too  sick  to  sit  at  the 
table  with  them,  his  place  being  taken  by  Bentou, 
the  "head  expunger,"  as  the  latter  not  inappro 
priately  describes  himself,  who  was  as  happy  as 
his  chief.  "That  expurgation,"  Benton  exclaims 
in  his  Tliirty  Years'  Vieic,*  "it  was  the  'crowning 
mercy  >  of  his  civil— as  New  Orleans  had  been  of  his 
military— life."  s 

1  Thirty  Years1  View,  Vol.  I,  p.  731. 

*}bid.  3Meigs,  pp.  239-241. 


THE  WAE  AGAINST  JACKSON         243 

Clay  felt  110  quickening  of  his  dejected  spirits  by 
reason  of  this  act.  "  I  shall  hail  with  the  greatest 
pleasure  the  occurrence  of  circumstances  which  will 
admit  of  my  resignation  without  dishonor  to  my 
self,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend  just  after  the  expunging 
resolution  was  passed.  "The  Senate  is  no  longer  a 
place  for  a  decent  man."  To  Brooke  he  wrote  on 
February  10,  1837  :  u  You  congratulate  me  on  my 
acceptance  of  the  new  appointment  recently  conferred 
upon  me  by  the  Senate.  I  think  you  ought  to  have 
condoled  and  sympathized  with  me,  because  by  the 
force  of  circumstances  I  was  constrained  to  remain  in 
a  body  in  the  humiliated  condition  in  which  the 
Senate  now  is.  I  shall  escape  from  it  as  soon  as 
I  decently  can,  with  the  same  pleasure  that  one 
would  fly  from  a  charnel  house.  ...  In  the 
month  of  March  the  Cumberland  route  offers  ad 
vantages  so  superior  to  any  other  that  I  must  follow 
it  to  Kentucky.  Would  to  God  it  were  for  the  last 
time!"1 

But  there  were  some  compensations.  Assurances 
came  to  him  of  the  continued  love  and  admiration 
of  those  whose  opinions  were  worthy  to  be  prized. 
Chancellor  Kent  wrote  from  New  York  on  February 
20,  1837:  "My  sympathies,  and  judgment,  and 
confidence,  and  patriotism,  and  grief,  and  indigna 
tion  are  with  you  in  every  point,  and  if  I  was  in 
Washington,  I  would  go  directly  up  to  you,  and 
give  your  hand  the  hearty  shake  of  sympathetic 
feeling.  You  have  vindicated  the  resolution  with 
irresistible  force,  and  damned  the  other  to  everlast 
ing  fame." 

1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  410-411. 


CHAPTER  X 

"  TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO  " 

THE  business  world  had  been  bearing  up  in  a 
creditable  way  under  the  uncertainty  and  disturb 
ance  created  by  the  unusual  financial  policies  of 
Jackson,  and  his  eight  years  ended  amid  much 
popular  acclamation.  There  was  still  some  degree 
of  prosperity  when  Van  Buren  was  inaugurated. 
Panic,  however,  lay  just  ahead.  The  way  had  been 
prepared  for  sweeping  wreck.  Whim  and  igno 
rance  had  been  supreme  in  the  management  of  the 
public  finances,  and  the  penalty  would  fall  upon  the 
entire  country  with  swift  justice. 

Apart  from,  the  destruction  of  the  bank,  and  all 
the  regular  agencies  of  credit  which  it  had  estab 
lished  and  under  which  business  proceeded  safely— 
in  itself  sufficient  to  cause  a  panic, — there  was  a 
surplus  distribution  scheme  of  mischievous  tenden 
cies.  For  this  Clay  could  not  escape  some  responsi 
bility,  though  it  could  be  truthfully  said  that  its 
enactment  at  such  a  time,  in  such  a  form,  was  not 
of  his  choice.  It  was  nevertheless  one  feature  of  bis 
public  land  bill  to  distribute  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  among  the  states  for  local  uses,  an  idea 
not  very  different  from  that  at  the  basis  of  a.  meas 
ure  which  met  the  favor  of  the  administration, 
as  well  as  of  the  Whigs,  and  passed  Congress  in  the 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     245 

session  of  1835-1836. l  It  provided  that  the  surplus 
(reserving  $5, 000, 000),  concerning  which  there  was  a 
great  ado,  especially  since  it  was  to  be  carried  about 
the  country  to  be  placed  in  favorite  banks  for  the 
advantage  of  the  dominant  political  party,  should 
be  l  i  deposited  ' '  with  the  several  states,  according 
to  their  representation  in  Congress.  Payment  was 
to  be  made  in  four  quarterly  instalments,  beginning 
on  January  1,  1837.  The  law  contemplated  a  return 
of  the  money  at  the  call  of  Congress,  but  it  was 
generally  understood  to  be,  as  it  proved,  an  out 
right  gift. 

One  powerful  motive  with  Clay  and  the  Whigs, 
in  their  support  of  this  plan,  was  a  desire  to  get  the 
public  money  out  of  the  hands  of  the  administration. 
It  was,  or  could  be  made,  they  said,  a  dangerous 
engine  to  perpetuate  the  power  of  the  party  in  office. 
The  surplus,  which  had  been  so  much  on  the  minds 
of  those  who  had  opposed  Clay's  protective  system 
during  the  recent  discussions  of  the  tariff  question, 
still  refused  to  grow  less.  It  reached  a  total  of 
more  than  $40,000,000  in  1836,  and  a  mixture  of 
considerations,  including  a  curious  deference  to  the 
state-rights  view  of  the  Union,  impelled  Congress 
to  vote  for  the  distribution  scheme. 

As  the  1st  of  January,  1837,  the  time  for  the  first 
payment,  approached,  the  banks  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  which  held  government  deposits,  began  to 
look  about  them  for  means  to  meet  the  call.  The 
money  was  in  the  hands  of  institutions,  a  number  of 
them  essentially  weak.  The  prize  of  government 
deposits  had  led  to  the  establishment  of  many  state 
1  June  23,  1836,  Statutes  at  Large,  p.  52. 


246  HENRY  CLAY 

banks  which  hoped  to  receive  a  share  of  these  easy 
favors.  They  issued  their  paper  money,  lent  out 
their  credit,  encouraged  speculation.  Now  that  the 
government  needed  the  funds  which  had  led  the 
way  to  this  season  of  reckless  plenty,  loans  must  be 
called  in  and  further  accommodations  to  borrowers 
denied.  Jackson  made  the  situation  no  better  by 
a  characteristic  act  of  his  own,  his  i  i  specie  circular. ' ' 
The  sales  of  land  to  speculators  were  largely  for  the 
notes  of  state  banks,  in  some  cases  of  doubtful 
solvency.  He  wished  Congress  to  provide  that  only 
gold  and  silver  coin  should  be  received  at  the  land- 
offices,  and  failing  to  get  such  legislation  he,  in 
July,  1836,  issued  an  order  upon  his  own  responsi 
bility.  This  measure  created  a  sudden  demand  for 
specie  for  exchanges  in  which  paper  money  had 
hitherto  been  the  medium.  Coin  was  drawn  from 
the  East  to  the  West,  so  that  it  might  be  paid  to  the 
government  through  the  land-offices.  The  whole 
financial  fabric  was  under  stress  and  strain,  and  that 
it  fell  could  have  surprised  no  student  of  the  polit 
ical  and  economic  situation. 

The  first  instalment  of  $9,367,000,  due  on  Jan 
uary  1,  1837,  was  successfully  transferred  from  the 
deposit  banks  to  the  states.  The  second  was 
paid,  though  not  without  difficulty,  on  April  1st. 
When  the  time  for  the  third  payment  arrived,  in 
July,  the  banks  had  broken  down  and  business  of 
all  kinds,  financial  and  mercantile,  suffered  general 
collapse.  Fortunes  in  cotton,  tobacco  and  iron,  as 
well  as  in  Western  laud,  disappeared  in  a  night. 
Bankruptcy  stared  all  parts  of  the  country  in  the 
face,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  wage- workers  were 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO"     247 

thrown  into  the  streets.  There  was  a  general  sus 
pension  of  specie  payments,  and  Van  Buren  saw 
that  he  had  conie  into  a  legacy  which  was  to  be  of 
far  less  value  and  honor  than  he  had  hoped.  Ruin 
was  made  the  wilder  by  the  uses  to  which  the  states 
applied  the  money  they  had  received.  They  at 
once  embarked  upon  ill-considered  schemes  of  pub 
lic  works  and  increased  the  whirl  of  speculative 
excitement,  which  now  ended  in  a  general  crash. 

The  business  community  demanded  immediate 
relief.  It  asked  the  President  to  rescind  the  specie 
circular.  This  he  declined  to  do,  but  he  was  com 
pelled  to  yield  to  the  request  for  a  special  session  of 
Congress.  It  was  called  for  September  4,  1837.  So 
rapid  was  the  decline  in  the  national  resources  from 
taxation  and  the  sales  of  land,  that  instead  of  a 
surplus,  the  government  was  now  confronted  with  a 
deficit.  Van  Buren' s  message  to  Congress,  when  it 
convened,  was  full  of  clear  and  direct  statements  as 
to  the  cause  of  the  economic  distress.  He  frankly 
confessed  that  the  policy  of  depositing  the  public 
money  in  state  banks  was  a  mistake,  but  instead  of 
turning  again  to  a  national  bank,  which  was  the 
resource  of  Clay  and  the  Whigs,  he  recommended 
the  independent  treasury  system.  The  distribution 
of  the  fourth  instalment  of  the  surplus  of  the  states, 
he  said,  should  be  withheld,  since  there  was  now  no 
surplus  and  the  regular  needs  of  the  government 
must  be  met  by  the  creation  of  debt — the  issue  of 
treasury  notes. 

Clay  was  in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  ready  to  con 
duct  a  vigorous  and  able  opposition.  His  defense 
of  his  policies  was  brilliant  and  convincing.  The 


248  HENEY  CLAY 

President  had  said  that  the  troubles  of  the  country 
arose  from  overaction  and  overtrading.  "  It  woulc 
be  quite  as  correct  and  just,  in  the  instance  of  s 
homicide  perpetrated  by  the  discharge  of  a  gun," 
said  Mr.  Clay,  "  to  allege  that  the  leaden  ball,  and 
not  the  man  who  leveled  the  piece,  was  responsible 
for  the  murder.  The  true  inquiry  is,  How  came 
that  excessive  overtrading,  and  those  extensive 
bank  facilities  which  the  message  describes"?  Were 
they  not  the  necessary  and  immediate  consequences 
of  the  overthrow  of  the  bank,  and  the  removal  from 
its  custody  of  the  public  deposits?"  The  surplus 
had  arisen,  he  asserted,  from  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands,  not  from  the  tariff,  as  had  been  alleged  by 
Mr.  Calhoun  and  those  who  had  taken  a  posi 
tion  hostile  to  the  protective  system.  "If  the  laud 
bill  had  been  allowed  to  go  into  operation,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  it  would  have  distributed  generally  and 
regularly  among  the  several  states  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands,  as  they  would  have  been  received 
from  time  to  time.  They  would  have  returned  back 
in  small  streams,  similar  to  those  by  which  they 
have  been  collected,  animating  and  improving  and 
fructifying  the  whole  country."  There  would  then 
have  been  no  surplus  ;  no  removal  of  the  deposits  ; 
no  accumulation  in  the  state  banks  of  great  sums  of 
money  seeking  mischief  to  do. 

Mr.  Clay  had  been  appealed  to  for  some  "  healing 
measure."  He  could  suggest  none  but  a  national 
bank.  "  The  great  want  of  the  country  is  a  general 
and  uniform  currency  and  a  point  of  union,  a  senti 
nel,  a  regulator  of  the  issues  of  the  local  banks." 
The  sub-treasury  system  he  conceived  to  be  full  of 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO  "     249 

evils.  It  was  likely  to  prove  insecure.  It  opened 
a  way  to  favoritism.  It  would  fearfully  increase 
executive  patronage.  All,  or  nearly  all,  the  objec 
tions  resolved  themselves  into  an  expression  of  dis 
trust  of  the  Jackson  party  in  the  administration  of 
this  great  new  power,  with  riuging  allusions  to  the 
''perilous  union  of  the  purse  and  the  sword,"  and 
an  effective  appeal  to  the  lessons  of  English  history. 
In  new  language,  with  fresh  energy  and  eloquence, 
he  arraigned  the  usurpations  of  Jackson  with  few 
expressions  of  confidence  of  disavowal  or  change 
in  Van  Bureu,  who  came  into  office  with  the  inten 
tion  of  following  "  in  the  very  footsteps  of  his  pred 
ecessor." 

Clay  had  his  remedy  and  it  was  a  national  bank. 
Then  why  did  he  not  propose  it  at  once?  This 
course  on  his  part  he  knew  would  be  futile,  with 
Congress  constituted  as  it  then  was.  "  I  do  not 
desire  to  force  upon  the  Senate,"  he  said  with  dig 
nity,  "or  upon  the  country  against  its  will,  if  I 
could,  my  opinion,  however  sincerely  or  strongly 
entertained.  If  a  national  bank  be  established,  its 
stability  and  its  utility  will  depend  upon  the  gen 
eral  conviction  which  is  felt  of  its  necessity.  And 
until  such  a  conviction  is  deeply  impressed  upon 
the  people  and  clearly  manifested  by  them,  it  would, 
in  my  judgment,  be  unwise  even  to  propose  a  bank." 
He  could  perceive  "  no  remedy  but  such  as  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  people  themselves." 

At  the  special  session  the  sub-treasury  bill  passed 
the  Senate  but  it  failed  in  the  House.  When  Con 
gress  convened  in  its  regular  session  in  December, 
the  discussion  was  continued  and  on  February  19, 


250  HENEY  CLAY 

1838,  Clay  developed  his  thesis  regarding  the  inde 
pendent  treasury  system.  He  spoke  this  time  at 
great  length,  with  deeper  earnestness,  and  obviously 
with  more  care.  The  result  was  an  oration  which , 
if  in  some  ways  it  seems  not  to  accord  with  our  late  ' 
experience  with  the  branch  treasuries,  was  pro 
foundry  interesting  to  those  who  heard  it,  and  may  bo 
read  with  like  interest  at  this  day.  Despite  its  louj.; 
period  of  service,  no  competent  judge  of  finaucia 
matters  can  claim  perfection  for  the  sub-treasury 
scheme,  and  many  of  its  shortcomings  were  clearlj 
foreseen  and  stated  by  Mr.  Clay.  His  main  em 
ployment,  however,  was  to  identify  the  plan  will 
Andrew  Jackson's  administration  ;  in  this  regard 
the  speech  is  less  convincing,  and  of  less  value  to 
day  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  It  is  not 
at  all  certain  that  Jackson  from  the  beginning  had 
in  view  this  kind  of  a  "  government  bank,"  as  Clay 
persisted  in  calling  a  treasury  and  its  branches 
which  should  be  in  charge  of  all  the  fiscal  opera 
tions  of  the  government,  earlier  entrusted  to  a  semi- 
independent  institution  that  for  forty  years  had  so 
successfully  attended  to  them  in  Philadelphia.  Clay 
tried  to  prove  it  from  the  President's  messages  and 
did  so  to  his  own  complete  satisfaction.  It  is  rather 
to  be  believed  that  Jackson's  antipathy  to  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  in  the  first  place  was  acci 
dental  ;  that  his  pursuit  of  it  was  a  matter  of  whim 
and  passion  ;  and  that  to  give  him  credit  for  having 
in  view  so  good  or  suitable  a  system  as  the  sub- 
treasury  plan,  is  an  undeserved  compliment  to  his 
acumen  as  a  public  man. 
Clay  seriously  argued,  however,  at  very  consider- 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     251 

able  length  that  Jackson  had  overthrown  the  United 
States  Bank  in  favor  of  the  state  banks  and  was  now 
himself,  through  his  heirs  in  the  business  of  govern 
ment,  engaged  in  the  work  of  destroying  these  tem 
porary  objects  of  his  favor,  while  all  the  time  hav 
ing  in  prospect  a  great  central  bank  which  would 
be  under  the  absolute  domination  of  the  President. 
He  opened  his  address  with  thanks  to  God — "that 
He  has  prolonged  my  life,  until  the  present  time,  to 
enable  me  to  exert  myself  in  the  service  of  my  coun 
try  against  a  project  far  transcending  in  pernicious 
tendency  any  that  I  have  ever  had  occasion  to  con 
sider." 

Though  there  will  seem  to  be  some  exaggeration 
in  this  statement,  it  is  thus  that  Clay  girded  himself 
for  what  became  a  most  powerful  and  impressive 
speech.  He  himself  believed  it,  and  this  circum 
stance  gave  inspiration  to  his  thought,  strength  to 
his  utterance  and  conviction  to  the  minds  of  his 
auditors.  Jackson's  u  egotism  and  vanity,"  said 
Clay,  at  one  point  in  the  speech,  ' '  prompted  him  to 
subject  everything  to  his  will ;  to  change,  to  remold 
and  retouch  everything."  He  had  the  same  sort  of 
ambition  which  animated  Napoleon  and  induced 
him  "to  impress  his  name  upon  everything  in 
France." 

"When  I  was  in  Paris,"  said  Clay  with  telling 
effect,  "  the  sculptors  were  busily  engaged  chiseling 
out  the  famous  *N,'  so  odious  to  the  Bourbon  line, 
which  had  been  conspicuously  carved  on  the  palace 
of  the  Tuileries,  and  on  other  public  edifices  and 
monuments  in  the  proud  capital  of  France.  When, 
Mr.  President,  shall  we  see  effaced  all  traces  of  the 


252  HENKY  CLAY 

ravages  committed  by  the  administration  of  Andrew 
Jackson?  Society  has  been  uprooted,  virtue  pun 
ished,  vice  rewarded  and  talents  and  intellectual 
endowments  despised ;  brutality,  vulgarism  and 
loco-focoism  upheld,  cherished  and  countenanced. 
Ages  will  roll  around  before  the  moral  and  political 
ravages  which  have  been  committed  will,  I  fear, 
cease  to  be  discernible." 

He  reviewed  the  history  of  his  personal  acquaint 
ance  with  Jackson  and  referred  to  the  old  "  bargain 
and  corruption"  cry  which  arose  in  1825.  Im 
mediately  after  he  had  announced  his  determination 
to  vote  for  John  Quincy  Adams  "a  rancorous  wa- 
was  commenced  against  me  and  all  the  barking  dogs 
let  loose  upon  me.  ...  I  gave  the  vote,  which 
in  the  contingency  that  happened  I  told  my  col 
league  [Mr.  Oittenden]  wrho  sits  before  me,  prior 
to  my  departure  from  Kentucky  in  November,  ]824, 
and  told  others  that  I  should  give.  .  .  .  But  1 
thank  my  God  that  I  stand  here  firm  and  erect,  un 
bent,  unbroken,  unsubdued,  unawed,  ready  to  de 
nounce  the  mischievous  measures  of  his  administra 
tion,  and  ready  to  denounce  this,  its  legitimate 
offspring,  the  most  pernicious  of  them  all." 

"  His  administration,"  Clay  continued,  the  vision 
unfolding  as  he  proceeded,  "  consisted  of  a  succes 
sion  of  astounding  measures  which  fell  on  the  public 
oar  like  repeated  bursts  of  loud  and  appalling  thun 
der.  Before  the  reverberations  of  one  peal  had 
ceased  another  and  another  came,  louder  and  louder, 
and  more  terrifying.  Or  rather  it  was  like  a  vol 
canic  mountain,  emitting  frightful  eruptions  of 
burning  lava.  Before  one  was  cold  and  crusted ; 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     253 

before  the  voices  of  the  inhabitants  of  buried  vil 
lages  and  cities  were  hushed  in  eternal  silence,  an 
other  more  desolating  was  vomited  forth,  extending 
wider  and  wider  the  circle  of  death  and  destruction." 

Though  the  speech  was  marked  by  no  little 
knowledge  of  financial  subjects,  it  was  .rendered 
most  notable  perhaps  by  its  allusions  to  Calhoun, 
who  was  now  drawing  off1  from  the  alliance  which 
he  had  formed  with  the  Whigs  for  the  purpose  of 
combating  the  policies  of  Andrew  Jackson,  and 
which  had  been  more  or  less  faithfully  maintained 
since  Clay  had  arranged  the  Compromise  of  1833. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  an  oratorical  tourney 
which  was  destined  to  attract  more  attention  than 
any  since  the  Webster-Hayne  debates,  and  it  found 
Clay  aggressive  and  fit.  He  outstripped  Webster. 
He  was  the  unquestioned  leader  of  the  Whig  party 
and  Calhoun  recognized  his  position.  The  South 
Carolinian  was  asked  in  1832  what  were  his  relative 
views  of  Webster  and  Clay.  He  said  :  "  Mr.  Web 
ster  will  never  be  President.  He  lacks  the  qualifi 
cations  of  a  leader ;  he  has  no  faith  in  his  own 
convictions ;  he  can  never  be  the  head  of  a  party. 
Though  very  superior  in  intellect  to  Mr.  Clay,  he 
lacks  his  moral  courage  and  his  strong  convictions. 
Hence,  Mr.  Clay  will  always  be  the  head  of  the 
party  and  Mr.  Webster  will  follow."  2 

Calhoun  in  a  public  letter  had  formally  taken 
leave  of  his  old  associates,  saying  that  he  was  not 
willing  to  be  absorbed  by  an  organization  whose 

1  "  At  this  critical  moment  the  senator  left  us  ;  he  left  us  foi 
the  purpose  of  preventing  the  success  of  the  common  cause." 

2  Hunt,  Calhoun,  p.  223. 


254  HENRY  CLAY 

principles  were  found  to  be  "  so  opposite  to  ours 
and  so  dangerous  to  our  institutions  as  well  as  op 
pressive  to  us"  ;  and  on  February  15th,  in  a  speed i 
in  the  Senate,  came  out  emphatically  in  favor  of  th-> 
sub- treasury  bill. 

Clay  now  went  after  Calhouu  with  the  graceful 
movements  which  always  characterized  him,  but 
unpityingly.  He  plunged  the  rapier  under  tin* 
vizor,  making  his  victim  reel  with  anger  and  pain. 
The  "  drawer"  of  the  sub-treasury  bill  was  "the 
distinguished  gentleman  in  the  White  House"  ;  the 
"endorser"  was  "the  distinguished  senator  from 
South  Carolina."  The  speaker  continued  : 

"What  the  drawer  thinks  of  the  endorser,  bin 
cautious  reserve  and  stifled  enmity  prevent  us  from, 
knowing.  But  the  frankness  of  the  endorser  has 
not  left  us  in  the  same  ignorance  with  respect  to  the 
opinion  of  the  drawer.  He  has  often  expressed  it 
upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  On  an  occasion  not 
very  distant,  denying  him  any  of  the  nobler  quali 
ties  of  the  royal  beast  of  the  forest,  he  attributed  to 
him  those  which  belong  to  the  most  crafty,  most 
skulking  and  one  of  the  meanest  of  the  quadruped 
tribe."1 

He  told  how  the  alliance  had  been  formed  between 
South  Carolina  and  the  Whigs  "  to  arrest  the  prog 
ress  of  corruption  ;  to  rebuke  usurpation  and  to 
drive  the  Goths  and  Vandals  from  the  Capitol." 
Their  object  was  about  to  be  accomplished  when 
Calhoun  deserted  them.  "He  took  up  his  musket, 
knapsack  and  shot-pouch,  and  joined  the  other 
party.  He  went  horse,  foot  and  dragoon,  and  he 
1  "  The  fox  of  Kinderhook." 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     255 

himself  composed  the  whole  corps.  .  .  .  We 
did  DO  wrong  to  the  distinguished  senator  from 
South  Carolina.  On  the  contrary  we  respected  him, 
confided  in  his  great  and  acknowledged  ability,  his 
uncommon  genius,  his  extensive  experience,  his 
supposed  patriotism ;  above  all  we  confided  in  his 
stern  and  inflexible  fidelity.  Nevertheless,  he  left 
us  and  joined  our  common  opponents,  distrusting 
and  distrusted.  He  left  us,  as  he  tells  us  in  his 
Edgefield  letter,  because  the  victory  which  our  com 
mon  arms  were  about  to  achieve  was  not  to  inure  to 
him  and  his  party,  but  exclusively  to  the  benefit  of 
his  allies  and  their  cause.  I  thought  that  actuated 
by  patriotism,  that  noblest  of  human  virtues,  we 
had  been  contending  together  for  our  common  coun 
try,  for  her  violated  rights,  her  threatened  liberties, 
her  prostrate  constitution.  Never  did  I  suppose 
that  personal  or  party  considerations  entered  into 
our  views.  Whether  if  victory  shall  ever  again  be 
about  to  perch  upon  the  standard  of  the  spoils  party 
(the  denomination  which  the  senator  from  South 
Carolina  has  so  often  given  to  his  present  allies)  he 
will  not  feel  himself  constrained  by  the  principles 
on  which  he  has  acted,  to  leave  them,  because  it 
may  not  inure  to  the  benefit  of  himself  and  his 
party,  I  leave  to  be  adjusted  between  themselves." 

Continuing,  Mr.  Clay  said  that  he  had  found  the 
speech  of  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  delivered 
four  days  before,  on  February  loth,  "  plausible,  in 
genious,  abstract,  metaphysical  and  generalizing." 
It  did  not  appear  to  him  (Clay)  "  to  be  adapted  to 
the  bosoms  and  business  of  human  life.  It  was 
aerial  and  not  very  high  up  in  the  air,  Mr.  Presi- 


256  HENBY  CLAY 

dent,  either."  The  closing  passages  were  an  en 
treaty  to  his  fellow  senators  in  his  most  eloquent 
vein.  He  pointed  to  the  English  experience  with  a 
bank,  as  good  for  us  to-day  as  it  was  in  1838  : 

u  I  oppose  to  these  imaginary  terrors,  the  ex 
ample  deducible  from  English  history.  There  a 
bank  has  existed  since  the  year  1694,  and  neither 
has  the  bank  got  possession  of  the  government,  nor 
the  government  of  the  bank.  .  .  .  Will  the  Sen 
ate  then  bring  upon  itself  the  odium  of  passing  this 
bill  ?  I  implore  it  to  forbear,  forbear,  forbear  !  1 
appeal  to  the  instructed  senators.  Is  this  govern 
ment  made  for  us,  or  for  the  people  and  the  states 
whose  agents  we  are  f  .  .  .  I  call  upon  all  the 
senators  ;  let  us  bury  deep  and  forever  the  charac 
ter  of  the  partisan,  rise  up  patriots  and  statesmen, 
break  the  vile  chains  of  party,  throw  the  fragments 
to  the  winds,  and  feel  the  proud  satisfaction  that 
we  have  made  but  a  small  sacrifice  to  the  paramount 
obligation  which  we  owe  to  our  common  country." 

Under  such  charges  Calhoun  could  not  rest  longer 
than  March  10th7  when  the  way  opened  for  him  to 
reply  to  Clay.  He  wrote  once  to  his  daughter  : 
"  Mr.  Clay  is  very  impudent  and  I  expect  to  have 
a  round  with  him."  l  It  is  said  that  he  stood  with 
every  muscle  distended.  His  long  hair  seemed  to 
be  on  end  and  his  forehead  was  wet  with  perspi 
ration.  No  other  sound  was  heard  in  the  Senate 
chamber  while  in  shrill  tones  he  poured  out  the 
floods  of  his  denunciation.2  The  style  of  the  dis 
course  was  plain  and  cold  compared  with  Clay's, 
which  was  lighted  up  always  by  the  warm  glow 
1  Hunt,  pp.  221-222.  8  Ibid,,  p.  222. 


"  TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO"     257 

of  his  own  temperament.  Calhoun  found  Clay's 
speech  to  be  "a  premeditated  and  gratuitous  at 
tack  "  and  he  resented  it  vigorously. 

"  The  faculties  of  our  minds,"  he  said,  "  are  the 
immediate  gifts  of  our  Creator  for  which  we  are  no 
further  responsible  than  for  their  proper  cultiva 
tion,  according  to  our  opportunities,  and  their 
proper  application  to  control  and  regulate  our  ac 
tions.  .  .  .  The  critic  must  expect  to  be  criti 
cized,  and  he  who  points  out  the  faults  of  others  to 
have  his  own  pointed  out.  I  cannot  retort  on  the 
senator  the  charge  of  being  metaphysical.  I  cannot 
accuse  him  of  possessing  the  powers  of  analysis  and 
generalization,  those  higher  faculties  of  the  mind 
(called  metaphysical  by  those  who  do  not  possess 
them)  which  decompose  and  resolve  into  their  ele 
ments  the  complex  masses  of  ideas  that  exist  in  the 
world  of  mind,  as  chemistry  does  the  bodies  that 
surround  us  in  the  material  world.  .  .  .  The 
absence  of  these  higher  qualities  of  mind  is  con 
spicuous  throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  sena 
tor's  public  life.  To  this  it  may  be  traced,  that  he 
prefers  the  specious  to  the  solid,  and  the  plausible 
to  the  true.  To  the  same  cause,  combined  with  an 
ardent  temperament,  it  is  owing  that  we  ever  find 
him  mounted  on  some  popular  and  favorite  measure 
which  he  whips  along,  cheered  by  the  shouts  of  the 
multitude  and  never  dismounts  till  he  has  ridden  it 
down.  .  .  .  It  is  the  fault  of  his  mind  to  seize 
on  a  few  prominent  and  striking  advantages,  and 
to  pursue  them  eagerly  without  looking  to  conse 


quences." 


1  Works  of  Calhoun,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  274-275. 


258  HENBY  CLAY 

These  entertaining  amenities  between  Clay  and 
Calhoun  gave  zest  to  the  debates  of  the  Senate  for 
the  next  two  or  three  years.  Each  man  in  his  char 
acteristic  way  pursued  the  other  relentlessly,  Web 
ster  now  and  then  interfering  in  the  forensic  duel 
and  diverting  Calhoun' s  attention  in  his  own  direc 
tion.  The  people  followed  the  contest  with  de 
light.  The  excitement  reached  its  height  in  the 
summer  of  1839-1840  in  the  discussion  of  the  plan 
which  Calhoun  offered  in  opposition  to  Clay's,  for 
dealing  with  the  public  lands.  He  proposed  that 
they  be  turned  over  to  the  states  in  which  they  were 
situated,  "a  donation,"  as  Clay  declared  it  to  be 
"  of  upward  of  one  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  the 
common  property  of  all  the  states  of  this  Union  to 
particular  states." 

A  running  debate  between  the  two  men  began  on 
January  3,  1840.  Clay  made  an  effort  to  identify 
the  bill  with  the  administration,  and  to  show  that 
Calhoun,  in  advancing  it,  had  the  support  of  Van 
Buren.  The  South  Carolinian  said  that  such  an  in 
quiry  was  an  improper  one  in  such  a  place.  "Was 
it  of  no  importance,"  Clay  asked  in  reply,  "that 
the  distinguished  senator  had  made  his  bow  in 
court,  kissed  the  hand  of  the  monarch,  was  taken 
into  favor  and  agreed  henceforth  to  support  his 
edicts?  "  This  greatly  enraged  Calhoun  who,  while 
they  were  on  the  subject  of  agreements  and  under 
standings,  said  he  would  allude  to  that  one,  now 
very  famous,  by  which  Clay  had  entered  the  cabinet 
of  President  Adams.  Calhoun  asserted  bluntly 
that  for  two  years  past  he  had  been  supporting  the 
leading  measures  of  the  Executive,  a  statement 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     259 

which  Clay  welcomed  gladly,  as  he  launched  into 
another  defense  of  himself  against  the  "  bargain  " 
story  of  1825.  He  recalled  to  Calhoun' s  iniud  the 
fact  that  he  also  had  then  favored  Adams  as  against 
Jackson,  and  his  constituents  had  approved  it  from 
that  day  to  this,  and  would  to  eternity.  History 
would  ratify  and  approve  it.  Clay  defied  the  sena 
tor  to  make  anything  out  of  that  part  of  his  career 
if  he  could.  He  had  been  charged  with  being  an 
advocate  of  compromise.  So  he  had  been,  on  a 
notable  occasion,  and  no  man  should  be  more  grate 
ful  for  it  than  the  senator  from  South  Carolina. 
But  for  that  Compromise,  Mr.  Clay  was  not  at  all 
certain  that  he  would  now  have  the  honor  to  meet 
the  senator  face  to  face  in  this  national  Capitol. 
Mr.  Calhoun  presented  himself  as  a  defender  of 
state  rights.  The  bill  under  consideration  was  an 
attempt  to  strip  and  rob  seventeen  states  of  this 
Union  of  their  property,  and  assign  it  over  to  some 
eight  or  nine  of  the  states.  If  this  were  what  the 
senator  called  vindicating  the  rights  of  the  states, 
Mr.  Clay  "prayed  God  to  deliver  the  country  from 
all  such  rights,  and  all  such  advocates." 

How  Calhoun  would  reply  every  one  was  curious 
to  know.  He  chose  to  turn  to  the  Compromise  of 
1833  for  which  he  felt  no  gratitude  toward  Mr.  Clay. 
The  obligation  was  on  the  other  side.  As  the  sena 
tor  himself  had  alluded  to  the  matter,  he  was  bound 
to  explain  what  might  otherwise  be  left  in  oblivion. 
Clay  was  compelled  to  compromise  in  order  to  save 
himself.  Events  had  placed  him  "flat  on  his  back," 
and  no  other  way  was  open  to  him.  The  senator 
was  left  "in  the  most  hopeless  position,"  Calhoun 


260  HENEY  CLAY 

continued,  "with  no  more  weight  with  his  former 
partisans  than  this  sheet  of  paper "  (the  speaker 
raised  one  from  his  desk). 

When  Calhoun  had  finished,  Clay  again  rose, 
"sorry  to  be  obliged  to  prolong  the  discussion." 
The  senator  had  said  that,  "  I  was  flat  on  my  back 
and  that  he  was  my  master,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Clay 
amid  much  excitement,  advancing  down  the  aisle 
directly  in  front  of  Calhoun.  He  pointed  his  quiver 
ing  finger  at  his  opponent  and  repeated  in  tones  in 
which  were  concentrated  the  utmost  scorn  and  de 
fiance,  "  He,  my  master!"  "He,  my  master!" 
he  said  again  in  louder  tones  with  his  finger  still 
pointed  at  Calhouu,  and  retreating  backward  with 
an  air  indicating  the  greatest  abhorrence.  "He, 
my  master  !"  he  repeated  a  third  time,  raising  his 
voice  to  a  yet  higher  key,  while  he  continued  his 
backward  movement  to  the  very  lobby.  Then  sud 
denly  changing  his  voice  from  a  trumpet's  strength 
almost  to  a  whisper,  which  was  audible  nevertheless 
in  every  corner  of  the  Senate  chamber,  he  added, 
1  i  Sir,  I  would  not  own  him  as  a  slave. ' ' 

There  was  a  hush  of  breathless  silence,  followed 
in  a  moment  by  a  great  outburst  of  applause  which 
nearly  caused  the  chair  to  expel  the  spectators  from 
the  galleries.1 

Thus  the  debate  proceeded,  with  perhaps  no  im 
mediate  purpose  but  to  exhibit  the  brilliant  quali 
ties  of  mind  of  two  senators  of  the  United  States  and 
to  amuse  the  country,  though  it  more  clearly  defined 
party  relations  and  brought  the  sectional  difference 

1  William  Ma  thews.  Orators  and  Oratory ;  Congressional  Globe, 
1839-1840,  pp.  96-97. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     261 

one  step  nearer  the  end.  The  sub-treasury  bill, 
which  had  been  the  occasion  of  Calhoun's  departure 
from  Clay,  and  his  affiliation  with  Van  Buren,  in 
order  to  form  that  slavery -defending  Democratic 
party,  which  was  the  South' s  hope  until  the  Civil 
War,  had  not  passed  at  the  special  session  of  1838. 
The  administration  continued  to  press  it,  however, 
and  at  last  it  became  a  law,  Clay  opposing  it  with 
all  his  abilities  to  the  end.  He  spoke  again  on  the 
subject  at  much  length  and  with  great  care  on  Janu 
ary  20,  1840,  just  before  the  final  vote,  which  was 
twenty-four  to  eighteen  in  the  Senate  and  124  to  107 
in  the  House.  He  did  not  abate  anything  of  his 
faith  in  a  United  States  Bank.  That,  he  said,  was 
the  remedy,  not  this  great  "  government  bank,  "as  he 
continued  to  denominate  the  independent  treasury, 
with  large  numbers  of  employees  holding  their  of 
fices  "at  the  pleasure  and  mercy  of  the  President." 
"  There  scarcely  remains  any  power  in  this  gov 
ernment,"  he  said  in  concluding  his  speech,  "but 
that  of  the  President.  He  suggests,  originates,  con 
trols,  checks  everything.  The  insatiable  spirit  of 
the  Stuarts  for  power  and  prerogative  was  brought 
upon  our  American  throne  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1829.  It  came  under  all  the  usual  false  and  hypo 
critical  pretenses  and  disguises  of  love  of  the  people, 
desire  of  reform,  and  diffidence  of  power.  The 
Scotch  dynasty  still  continues.  We  have  had 
Charles  the  First  and  now  we  have  Charles  the 
Second.  But  I  again  thank  God  that  our  deliver 
ance  is  not  distant,  and  that  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1841,  a  great  and  glorious  revolution  without  blood, 
and  without  convulsion  will  be  achieved." 


262  HENBY  CLAY 

This  was  Clay's  desire  as  well  as  his  belief,  and 
the  party  alignments  for  another  presidential  con 
test  were  forming  rapidly.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 
that  he  thought  and  hoped  he  would  this  time  be 
the  successful  candidate.  As  the  year  approached, 
he  followed  the  course  of  political  events  in  the 
various  states  through  his  friends,  sanguinely, 
though  at  times  also  anxiously.  Webster  too  had 
designs  upon  the  presidency,  and  he  was  a  leader 
who  in  his  own  section  had  great  strength.  General 
Harrison,  the  "  old  hero"  of  Tippecanoe,  had  led 
the  poll  among  the  Whig  candidates  in  1836,  and  he 
still  seemed  to  many  a  very  available  figure  for 
a  popular  campaign.  On  January  28,  1839,  Clay 
wrote  to  Judge  Brooke  from  the  Senate  chamber  : 
uThe  spirits  of  my  friends  are  again  revived,  and 
they  think  that  they  see,  in  various  quarters,  indi 
cations  of  the  final  result  which  their  partiality 
prompts  them  to  desire.  I  believe  myself  that  the; 
current  in  my  favor,  which  for  the  moment  ap 
peared  to  be  impeded,  will  again  burst  forward  with 
accumulated  strength."  l 

In  the  summer  of  1839,  Mr.  Clay  made  another 
tour  of  the  Eastern  states.  Upon  his  visit  to  New 
York,  which  he  approached  in  the  steamer  Jatin-s 
Madison,  he  was  met  at  the  wharf  in  Greenwich  by 
immense  crowds,  and  placed  in  an  open  barouche, 
preceded  by  a  band  of  music  and  followed  by  car 
riages  containing  prominent  citizens  who  had  conn- 
to  escort  him  into  the  city.  His  entire  way  to  the 
Astor  House,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  was  lined 
with  people  who  acclaimed  him  with  great  enthu- 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  439. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     263 

siasin.  Even  the  housetops  were  filled  with  on 
lookers  ;  flags  and  banners  were  everywhere  ;  bauds 
stationed  in  the  street  played  as  he  passed ;  ladies 
waved  their  handkerchiefs,  and  the  whole  commu 
nity  seemed  to  unite  to  honor  him.  One  of  his  ad 
mirers  likened  it  to  an  "  oriental  pageant."  1  In 
deed,  for  a  long  time  now,  whenever  Clay  went 
about  the  country,  he  was  the  mark  of  just  such 
demonstrations  of  popular  love  ;  sometimes  logs  were 
rolled  upon  the  railway  track  at  stations  which  he 
passed  upon  his  journeys  and  the  crowds  refused  to 
remove  them  until  Clay  had  come  out  to  make  a 
speech.  Thus,  it  would  seem,  he  was  not  to  be 
blamed  for  thinking  that  he  would  be  his  party's 
natural  choice  for  the  nomination. 

As  for  the  canvass  of  1832,  the  candidate  was  to 
be  named  in  a  national  convention.  The  meeting 
of  delegates  was  to  be  held  in  Harrisburg  early  in 
December,  1839.  Clay's  friends  believed  that  his 
prospects  were  of  the  best,  and  it  was  a  matter  for 
surprise  as  well  as  great  chagrin,  when  they  found 
that  arrangements  had  been  made  which  would  re 
sult  in  their  complete  undoing.  A  situation  un 
favorable  to  Clay  seems  to  have  been  brought  about 
mainly  by  the  disaffection  of  Webster's  friends,  and 
the  belief  of  some  party  managers,  principally  in 
New  York,  that  he  was  a  defeated  candidate  with 
whom  it  would  be  difficult  to  make  a  successful 
fight.  As  for  the  first  consideration — that  bearing 
upon  Webster's  course,  when  he,  foreseeing  his  own 
defeat,  withdrew  from  the  contest — it  should  not 
have  T^een  unexpected.  '  *  It  seems  to  be  one  of  the 

1  Mallory,  Vol.  I,  p.  184. 


264  HENEY  CLAY 

weaknesses  of  great  men  in  the  competition  for  the 
highest  honors,"  says  Mr.  Schurz,  "to  prefer  com 
paratively  small  men  to  one  another." 

in  addition  to  this  the  Whig  party  in  New  York, 
like  the  Jackson  party  in  that  state,  had  developed 
some  astute  political  manipulators.  They  had  an 
almost  modern  prescience  regarding  their  own  inter 
ests.  Their  point  of  view  was  strange  to  Mr.  Clay 
and  his  friends  who  lived  among  large  questions, 
which  bore  directly  on  the  public  welfare.  The 
chief  of  these  was  Tlmrlow  Weed,  an  editor  oi 
Albany,  who  was  now  coming  forward  as  apolitical 
influence,  and  who  from  this  time  on  led  a  tolerably 
triumphant  career  as  a  wire  puller,  until  under  the 
banner  of  William  H.  Seward  he  met  the  Lincoln 
men  at  Chicago  in  I860.  Clay  had  learned  some 
thing  of  the  attitude  of  Weed  at  Saratoga  Springs, 
while  on  his  New  York  visit,  during  the  summer. 
Thither  the  leader  went  with  the  purpose,  if  pos 
sible,  of  inducing  Clay  to  withdraw  from  the  con 
test.  He  had  two  ends  in  view,  he  himself  says — io 
save  Clay,  to  whom  he  was  "warmly  attached," 
the  mortification  of  defeat,  and  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  victory  of  the  Whig  party,  which  now  had 
an  opportunity  to  achieve  its  first  national  success. 
The  conversations  continued  off  and  on  for  two 
days,  Mr.  Clay's  bearing  being  always  courteous 
and  kind.  He  said  that  he  could  not  "  in  view  of 
the  earnest  wishes  of  troops  of  his  friends  through 
out  the  Union  refuse  them  the  use  of  his  name,"  but 
he  would  "cheerfully  and  heartily  acquiesce  "  in  the 
decision  of  the  convention,  whatever  it  might  be.1 

1  Weed,  Autobiography,  Vol.  I,  p."481. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     265 

The  canvass  developed  "great  zeal  and  una 
nimity"  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay  in  New  York  City 
and  the  river  counties,  but  in  other  portions  of  the 
state  a  sentiment  existed  favorable  to  General  Har 
rison  and  General  Scott,  the  latter  being  introduced 
into  the  situation  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  effect 
the  object  in  view, — the  defeat  of  the  candidate  who 
was  in  reality  the  choice  of  a  vast  majority  of  the 
Whigs  of  the  state.  Scott's  nomination  seen  to  be 
impossible,  the  delegates  would  be  turned  over  to 
Harrison.  Public  opinion  was  subjected  to  a  great 
amount  of  manipulation,1  and  when  the  New  Y^ork- 
ers  were  in  place,  there  were  twenty  for  Scott,  ten 
for  Clay  and  two  for  Harrison.  Weed  very  frankly 
tells  0f  his  next  step,  which  was  to  open  negotia 
tions  with  some  of  the  Webster  men,  with  whom 
he  formed  an  agreement.  Although  Clay  was 
seen  to  have  a  " decided  plurality"  in  the  con 
vention,  Weed,  ostensibly  acting  on  the  theory 
that  Clay  could  not  carry  New  York  and  Penn 
sylvania,  succeeded  in  nominating  another  can 
didate. 

Clay  foresaw  the  result.  He  wrote  to  General 
Combs  on  December  3d,  just  before  the  convention 
met.  He  had  understood,  he  said,  that  eight  or 
nine-tenths  of  the  Whigs  of  New  Yrork  preferred 
him  to  other  candidates,  yet  a  nomination  was  to 
be  made  in  conformity  to  the  wishes  of  one  or  two- 
tenths.  He  desired  to  know  whether  it  was  not 
easier  to  bring  over  one  or  two-tenths  to  eight  or 
nine-tenths  than  to  do  the  opposite  thing.8  Neither 

1  Schnrz,  Vol.  II,  p.  177. 

2  Priwite  Correspondence,  p.  142. 


266  HESTKY  CLAY 

Harrison  nor  Scott l  seems  to  have  thought  himsel:' 
a  suitable  candidate  for  the  presidency,  especially 
as  a  rival  to  Clay,  but  they  were  all  pawns  in  th<; 
hands  of  a  few  men  who  had  lately  entered  the  po 
litical  arena  in  America,  to  change  the  course  of 
history  from  that  which  it  would  have  taken,  if  lef ; 
free  to  move  along  the  natural  linesit  had  followed  be 
fore  Jackson's  corrupting  advent  into  our  public  life 
Even  yet  Weed  and  his  friends  were  not  sum 

1  A  letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Thomas  H.  Clay  of  Lexington 
Ky.,  written  by  General  Scott  to  Henry  Clay  from  Utica,  N.  Y. 
on  Februarys,  1839,  says:     "...     Having  recently  passer 
rapidly  through  many  of  the  states  (on  public  duty)  I  have  beer 
approached  by  persons,  of  more  or  less  consideration,  almos ~> 
everywhere,  who  have  tendered  me  assurances  of  eventual  sup 
port  for  the  office  of  President  at  the  next  election.     T"hose  as 
surances  have  come  from  the  friends  of  yourself,  of  General  Har 
rison,   Mr.  Webster  and  Mr.  Van  Buren,  respectively.     In  al 
most  every  case  it  was  evident  that  the  individual  had  some 
doubt  of  the  success  of  his  own  favorite  candidate,  and  only 
looked  to  me  as  his  second  choice.     I  made  one  general  reply  to 
all  and  each,  —  'that  I  was  no  politician  and  could  not  claim 
the  high  distinction  of  being  a  statesman  ;  that  I  was  absolutely 
indifferent  whether  I  ever  reached  the  office  of  President ;  that 
I  made  no  pretensions  to  it,  and  that  there  were  already  presi 
dential  candidates  enough  before  the  public  without  the  addi 
tion  of  my  name.'     To  the  Whigs,  I  made  the  further  declara 
tion, —  'that  it  ought   not  to  be  doubted  that  the  convention 
they  were  to  hold  would  reduce  the  number  of  their  candidates 
to  one — whom  all  would  cordially  support,'  and  to  the  support 
ers  of  Mr.  Van   Buren,  I  further  said,  — '  that,  in  my  bosom,  1 
had  had  the  misfortune  to  condemn  almost  every  leading  meas 
ure  of  the  late  and  present  administrations,  and  at  least  seven 
in  every  ten  appointments  which  the  two  had  made.' 

"  Being  more  strongly  urged  by  some  leading  Whigs  than  by 
the  many  alluded  to  above,  and  who  seemed  to  think  that  the 
final  battle  would  be  fought  the  next  year,  I  replied,  '  You 
ought  not  to  despair  of  success  with  the  one  candidate  who  may 
be  duly  nominated  by  the  convention  ; — should  he,  however,  be 
defeated,  I  admit  that  your  case  will  then  become  rather  des 
perate  ;  it  will  still  be  your  duty  to  renew  the  contest  and 
should  you  then  want  a  leader  of  the  forlorn  hope,  and  a  better 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO"     267 

ciently  certain  of  the  result  to  allow  the  convention  to 
go  its  own  way.  A  resolution  was  introduced  and 
passed,  authorizing  each  state  delegation  to  appoint 
a  committee  of  three  to  "receive  the  views  and 
opinions  of  that  delegation,  and  communicate  the 
same  to  the  assembled  committees  of  all  the  delega 
tions.  J '  Each  delegation  should  for  itself  ballot  for 
a  presidential  candidate  and  report  the  result  back 
to  the  general  committee  through  its  committee  of 
three.  This  scheme  worked  admirably.  There  was 
no  opportunity  for  Clay's  friends  to  nominate  him 
in  open  meeting,  and  to  carry  him  through  by 
storm.  Nevertheless,  on  the  first  ballot  Clay  re 
ceived  102  votes,  as  against  ninety-one  for  Harrison 
and  fifty-seven  for  Scott.  The  latter  was  eliminated 
at  the  right  time,  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  the 
managers,  and  on  the  final  ballot  there  were  148 
votes  for  Harrison,  ninety  for  Clay  and  sixteen  for 
Scott. 

be  not  disclosed  in  time,  you  may  reckon  upon  me  for  that 
service — with  a  possibility  of  success — upon  the  principle  (the 
nation  having  been  made  rabid  by  one  military  chieftain)  that 
"  the  hair  of  the  dog  is  good  for  the  bite."  '  This  may  look  like 
a  present  argument  in  favor  of  my  friend  General  Harrison  who, 
no  doubt,  and  perhaps  with  good  reason,  thinks  himself  su 
perior  to  me  in  general  soldiership  and  in  conflicts  of  the  field, 
as  he  is  as  a  politician  and  statesman  ;  but  in  quoting  the  ada«:e 
I  was  thinking  of  his  being  probably  excluded  from  the  next 
contest  by  the  intervening  convention,  and  of  the  fact  that 
when  out  in  the  last  he  was  not  accepted — which  perhaps  is  a 
conclusive  argument  against  any  quack  remedy.  Be  all  this 
as  it  may,  you  have  in  this,  and  the  enclosed  letter  [to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War]  'the  head  and  front  of  my  offending,'  or  inter 
meddling,  in  politics,  and  I  shall  continue  to  observe  the  same 
course  in  the  singleness  of  sincerity.  ...  In  the  mean 
time,  as  always,  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  with  the  highest  respect 
and  esteem, 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

11  WINFIELD  SCOTT." 


268  HENRY  CLAY 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  u  disappoint 
ment  and  vexation ' '  of  Clay's  friends  found  *  *  excit  eel 
expression."  l  The  opposition  had  reason  to  feai 
that  it  had  gone  much  too  far.  It  delayed  the  final 
ballot  twenty-four  hours  in  order  to  effect  a  recon 
ciliation,  and  while  the  nomination  was  made  unani 
mous,  the  motion  could  be  offered  and  supported 
with  little  grace.  It  was  clear  enough  now  that 
nothing  would  do  except  to  nominate  a  candidate  for 
Vice- President,  drawn  from  Clay's  immediate  circle 
of  friends.  But  none  who  was  suitable  could  be 
found.  B.  Watkins  Leigh,  of  Virginia,  rose  and 
declined.  John  M.  Clayton,  of  Delaware,  refused 
the  honor  through  his  friend  Reverdy  Johnson. 
Finally  ex-Governor  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  who 
had  voted  for  Clay  in  the  convention  and  had  at 
former  times  expressed  admiration  for  the  great 
Kentuckian  and  his  policies,  was  named,  and  he 
accepted.  Nevertheless,  the  ticket  was  not  put  for 
ward  without  many  misgivings,  and  it  remained  for 
Clay  himself  to  give  to  it,  in  a  spirit  of  true  magna 
nimity,  that  position  in  the  sight  of  the  Whigs  of 
the  country,  which  led  to  a  sweeping  victory  after 
one  of  the  hardest  fought  popular  contests  in  the 
history  of  the  presidency  in  America. 

As  in  1831-1832  the  work  of  the  nominating  con 
vention  was  ratified  a  few  months  afterward  by  a 
national  convention  of  "  young  men."  Tbis  met  in 
Baltimore,  May  4, 1840.  Clay  addressed  on  the  occa 
sion  an  audience  of  more  than  20,000,  audit  was  a 
meeting  in  which  enthusiasm  was  unconfined.  He 
spoke  of  the  convention  at  Harrisburg.  It  was  com- 
1  Weed,  Vol.  I,  p.  482. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO"     269 

posed  he  said  of  "as  enlightened  and  as  respectable 
a  body  of  men  as  were  ever  assembled"  in  this 
country.  "General  Harrison  was  nominated,  and 
cheerfully  and  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  I 
gave  my  hearty  concurrence  in  that  nomination. 
From  that  moment  to  the  present  I  have  had  but 
one  wish,  one  object,  one  desire,  and  that  is  to  secure 
the  election  of  the  distinguished  citizen  who  received 
the  suffrages  of  the  convention."  He  believed  that 
there  were  twenty  states  which  would  give  their 
votes  to  Harrison,  a  prediction  that  did  not  fall  far 
short  of  a  triumphant  realization. 

Clay  entered  the  campaign  with  energy,  speaking 
at  many  places.  The  enthusiasm  seemed  to  well  up 
spontaneously  all  over  the  country,  and  was  without 
previous,  and  perhaps  later  example.  Log  cabins 
with  the  "latch-string"  hanging  out,  'coons  and 
hard  cider — all  indicative  of  Harrison's  beginnings 
on  the  frontier — everywhere  appeared  to  swell  the 
excitement.  Glee  clubs  were  organized  to  sing  cam 
paign  vSongs ;  companies  of  men  and  boys  marched 
up  and  down  the  country  shouting  "Tippecanoe 
and  Tyler,  too."  The  "old  hero"  of  New  Orleans 
was  not  a  circumstance  to  the  "old  hero"  of  an 
Indian  war  whom  the  Whigs  had  now  groomed  and 
brought  out  upon  parade  twenty-nine  years  after  the 
event. 

One  of  Clay's  most  notable  speeches  was  that  de 
livered  at  a  Harrison  meeting  in  Nashville  on 
August  17th,  within  arm's  length  of  Jackson  in  the 
"Hermitage."  Thousands  of  men  and  women  at 
tended  to  listen.  The  audience  seemed  as  great  as 
that  in  Baltimore  and  the  marching  men,  the  sing- 


270  HENRY  CLAY 

ing,  the  shouting,  the  gay  banners,  the  waving; 
handkerchiefs  made  him  think,  as  Clay  had  else 
where  said,  that  the  nation  was  somehow  "agitatec 
upon  its  whole  surface  and  at  its  lowest  depths  likti 
the  ocean  when  convulsed  by  a  terrible  storm.' 
He  came,  he  explained,  to  bring  no  hard  wordn 
for  General  Jackson,  their  fellow  citizen  and  friend. 
He  was  a  "  great  chieftain  ;  he  had  fought  bravely 
and  well  for  his  country."  The  speaker  hoped  thai 
"he  would  live  long  and  enjoy  much  happiness,  and 
when  he  departed  from  this  fleeting  vale  of  tears, 
that  he  would  enter  into  the  abode  of  the  just  made 
perfect." 

Mr.  Clay  reached  his  climax  when  he  spoke 
of  his  old  friend,  Felix  Grundy,  who  from  being  a 
very  eminent  criminal  lawyer  had  advanced  to  the 
United  States  Senate.  In  1838  he  had  become  Van 
Buren's  Attorney-General,  and  was  now  engaged  in 
trying  to  accomplish  the  reelection  of  his  chief  who 
had  been  reuominated  by  the  Democrats.  "One 
of  the  pleasures  which  I  promised  myself  in  making 
this  visit  to  your  beautiful  town,"  said  Clay,  "was 
to  meet  and  talk  over  matters  with  him,  but  on  my 
inquiry  for  him  I  learned  that  he  was  in  East  Ten 
nessee  making  speeches  in  favor  of  the  present  ad 
ministration.  '  Ah  ! '  said  I,  '  at  his  old  occupation, 
— defending  criminals  ! ' 

This  was  an  immensely  successful  sally  for  a  po 
litical  meeting.  Those  who  were  present  say  that 
the  manner  in  which  Clay  made  it  "surpasses  de 
scription."  His  gestures  and  the  style  of  his  speak 
ing,  combined  to  produce  a  great  effect,  When  the 
commotion  subsided,  he  continued  happily,  < l  But 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     271 

there  is  this  difference  between  my  distinguished 
friend's  present  and  past  defense  of  criminals.  He 
is  now  defending  great  criminals  of  state  not  before 
a  carefully  packed  jury,  but  before  the  free,  en 
lightened,  virtuous  and  patriotic  people  ;  and  there 
fore  we  may  well  hope  that  his  present  defense  will 
not  be  attended  with  his  hitherto  unusual  success."  ! 

The  campaign  was  one  long  frolic  which  could 
have  but  one  result,  Van  Buren  had  fallen  upon  evil 
days.  He  was  reaping  the  whirlwind  after  Jackson 
had  sowed  the  wind.  Some  renewal  of  confidence 
had  occurred  in  the  business  of  the  country  since 
the  panic  of  1837,  but  banks  began  to  fail  again, 
and  with  ruin  in  every  one's  mind  the  party  in 
power  could  easily  be  swept  out  of  place.  It  could 
be  said  in  truth  of  Harrison  that  he  had  no  known 
opinions  upon  most  of  the  great  issues  which  Clay 
and  Webster  had  set  up  for  the  Whig  party,  but 
this  was  probably  to  his  advantage.  It  was  in  any 
event  an  opposition  party  year,  and  it  was  an  op 
portunity  lost  to  Clay,  to  the  organization  which  he 
had  created,  and  to  the  country  which  so  sorely 
needed  to  be  recalled  to  the  sound  principles  of  its 
earlier  years  when  he  was  cheated  out  of  his  portion 
at  Harrisburg.  After  all  the  states  had  been  heard 
from,  there  were  found  to  be  234  electoral  votes 
from  nineteen  states  for  Harrison,  and  only  sixty 
from  seven  states  (New  Hampshire,  Virginia,  South 
Carolina,  Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri  and  Arkansas) 
for  Van  Buren. 

Never  had  the  Whig  outlook  been  so  propitious 
or  the  party  hope  of  immediate  achievement  so 

1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  217. 


272  HENKY  CLAY 

great.  The  more,  then,  were  the  disappointment 
and  chagrin  when  events  conspired  to  prevent  the 
reaping  of  any  worthy  harvest.  Clay  pressed  the 
cause  boldly  in  the  last  session  of  Congress  of  Van 
Buren's  administration,  beginning  in  December, 
1840,  and  ending  March,  1841.  He  led  a  move 
ment  to  repeal  the  sub-treasury  law,  though  lie 
knew  it  could  not  succeed  until  the  results  of  the 
election  should  be  seen  in  a  new  Congress.  He  was, 
however,  a  born  parliamentarian ;  he  was  made  to 
shine  in  a  legislative  chamber  ;  it  was  his  delight  to 
call  out  an  antagonist  in  debate  and  put  him  in  the 
attitude  of  defense  before  the  assembled  multitude. 
The  main  point  of  his  argument  was  that  the  coun 
try  had  decreed  the  repeal  of  the  measure  at  the 
recent  elections.  "  Gentlemen  on  the  other  side  " 
had  said  that  the  people  had  decided  this  or  that, 
especially  in  regard  to  a  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  wished  them  now  to  note  the  message  of  the 
nation  on  the  subject  of  the  sub-treasury  scheme. 
He  was  taunted  with  being  the  leader  of  "  a  coon- 
skin,  log-cabin  party."  Before  going  further,  he 
would  like  to  ask  those  who  used  these  words  in  so 
much  contempt,  what  kind  of  a  party  theirs  must 
be  "  to  be  driven  out  of  power  by  a  party  whose 
residence  is  a  log  cabin  and  whose  covering  is  coon- 
skins  "  ?  There  was  something  wrong  about  it  or 
the  defeated  party  would  never  have  met  so  hard  a 
fate.1 

Late  in  January  he  made  another  elaborate  speech 
upon  his  land  bill.     He  maintained  throughout  the 
session  a  triumphant  air,  which  had  better  been  a 
1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  22  et  seq. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"  .  273 

little  subdued,  especially  in  view  of  what  was  so  soon 
to  follow.  But  that  was  the  nature  of  the  man.  It 
gave  him  joy  to  taunt  the  administration  party 
which  had  been  so  decisively  overthrown.  He  had 
the  spirits  of  a  schoolboy  whose  team  had  just  van 
quished  an  opponent  on  some  athletic  field.  The 
merits  of  his  scheme  for  the  distribution  of  the  pro 
ceeds  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  were  again  stated 
in  a  discourse  which  extended  over  two  days,  amid 
interpolations  by  other  members,  rejoinders,  laugh 
ter  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries,  and  some  of  the 
horse-play  borrowed  from  the  stump  from  which  all 
the  senators  had  so  recently  come  back. 

One  passage  at  least  deserves  to  be  remembered, 
however,  though  later  events  prove  how  much  over 
drawn  the  prophecy  was  by  the  orator's  hopeful 
imagination.  The  measure  he  believed  would 
greatly  tend  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  "  No 
section,  no  state,"  he  exclaimed,  "  would  ever  be 
mad  enough  to  break  off  from  the  Union  and  de 
prive  itself  of  the  inestimable  advantages  which  it 
secures.  Although  thirty  or  forty  more  new  states 
should  be  admitted  into  this  Union,  this  measure 
would  cement  them  all  fast  together."  An  honor 
able  senator  wished  to  witness  a  settlement  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Oregon,  "and  he  will  probably 
be  gratified  at  no  distant  day.  Then  will  be  seen 
members  of  Congress  from  the  Pacific  states  scaling 
the  Eocky  Mountains,  passing  through  the  country 
of  the  grizzly  bear,  descending  the  turbid  Missouri, 
entering  the  father  of  rivers,  ascending  the  beautiful 
Ohio  and  coming  to  this  Capitol  to  take  their  seats 
in  its  spacious  and  magnificent  halls.  Proud  of  the 


274  HENEY  CLAY 

commission  they  bear,  and  happy  to  find  themselves 
here  in  council  with  friends  and  brother  country 
men,  enjoying  the  incalculable  benefits  of  this  great 
confederacy  and,  among  them,  their  annual  dis 
tributive  share  of  the  issues  of  a  nation's  inher 
itance,  would  even  they,  the  remote  people  of  the 
Pacific,  ever  desire  to  separate  themselves  from  such 
a  high  and  glorious  destiny  ?  "  l 

Clay,  not  unnaturally,  had  the  expectation  of  being 
the  principal  power  behind  the  new  President,  He 
had  been  speaking  as  the  party  chief  and  this  he 
was  by  common  consent  the  country  over.  He  was 
invited  to  become  Secretary  of  State  in  the  cabinet 
of  General  Harrison  who  visited  "  Ashland"  on  his 
way  East ;  but  he  chose  to  remain  in  the  Senate  as  a 
field  for  greater  service  to  the  administration. 
Webster,  who  had  been  reserved  for  the  Treasury 
Department,  was  then  asked  to  take  the  post.  The 
cabinet  was  made  up  largely  of  Clay's  warm  and 
devoted  friends,  though  Harrison  seemed  early  to 
fall  under  the  influence  of  the  petty  politicians  who 
had  dominated  the  Harrisburg  convention.  They 
sought  to  have  the  new  President  believe  that  Clay 
was  endeavoring  to  override  him  in  appointments 
to  office,  and  the  development  of  national  policies, 
a  charge  which  deeply  wounded  the  great  Kentuck- 
ian.  Herds  of  office-hunters  poured  into  Washing 
ton.  Jackson  had  not  only  corrupted  his  own 
party  ;  he  had  also  taken  the  virtue  out  of  the 
other,  and  in  the  hour  of  victory  there  was  a  large 
demand  for  the  spoils.  With  this  unseemly  exhi 
bition  Clay  could  consistently  have  nothing  to  do. 
1  Col  ton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  270. 


"TIPPECAXOE  AXD  TYLEE,  TOO"     275 

He  held  aloof  from  it  all  with  no  wish  in  the  tri 
umph  but  to  cause  to  prevail  the  measures  which  he 
had  made  his  and  his  party's  during  the  twelve 
years  past.  He  said  in  a  speech  in  his  own  "  slashes 
of  Hanover"  while  the  campaign  was  in  progress  : 
"If  we  acted  on  the  avowed  and  acknowledged 
principle  of  our  opponents  '  that  the  spoils  belong 
to  the  victors,'  we  should  indeed  be  unworthy  of 
the  support  of  the  people.  No  !  fellow  citizens ; 
higher,  nobler,  more  patriotic  motives  actuate  the 
Whig  party.  Their  object  is  the  restoration  of  the 
Constitution,  the  preservation  of  liberty  and  rescue 
of  the  country."  l 

It  was  a  cause  of  disappointment,  if  not  of  auger, 
to  Clay  to  be  told  by  an  entirely  mediocre  man,  who 
by  mere  chance  had  come  to  the  President's  chair, 
as  an  exponent  of  what  were  his  own  principles  and 
policies,  that  his  advice  bore  the  appearance  of  in 
terference.  "  If  to  express  freely  my  opinion  as  a 
citizen  and  as  a  senator  in  regard  to  public  matters 
be  dictation,"  he  wrote  to  Harrison  on  March  15, 
1841,  before  leaving  for  "Ashland,"  "then  I  have 
dictated  and  not  otherwise.  There  is  but  one  alter 
native  which  I  could  embrace,  to  prevent  the  exer 
cise  of  this  common  right  of  freedom  of  opinion,  and 
that  is  retirement  to  private  life.  That  I  am  most 
desirous  of,  and  if  I  do  not  promptly  indulge  the 
feeling,  it  is  because  I  entertain  the  hope — perhaps 
vain  hope — that  by  remaining  a  little  longer  in  the 
Senate,  I  may  possibly  render  some  service  to  the 
country  to  whose  interests  my  life  has  been  dedi 
cated."  2 

1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  207.      *  Private  Correspondence,  p.  453. 


276  HENKY  CLAY 

When  Clay  returned  to  the  capital  for  the  special 
session  of  Congress,  which  had  been  called  to  begin 
a  Whig  administration  of  the  government  on  May 
31,  1841,  General  Harrison  was  gone.  He  had  lived 
only  a  mouth,  and  John  Tyler  was  established  in 
the  President's  office,  a  firmer,  stronger  man,  but  a 
more  mischievous  one  from  every  Whig  point  of 
view  than  Harrison  ever  could  have  been.  Clay 
had  reached  the  age  of  sixty-four  and  his  health  was 
not  of  the  best.  He  alluded  in  his  speeches  to  his 
years,  and  was  likely  to  make  complaint  of  tire  and 
exhaustion  before  he  came  to  the  end  of  a  discourse. 
While  Tyler  was  not  one  of  his  trusted  friends,  lie 
was  supposed  to  be  an  entirely  sympathetic  disci  pie. 
In  1825  he  had  written  a  letter,  which  was  remem 
bered,  approving  of  Clay's  vote  for  John  Quincy 
Adams.  "  Instead  of  seeing  in  your  course  on  the 
late  presidential  question  aught  morally  or  politic 
ally  wrong,"  he  said,  "I  am  on  the  contrary  fully 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  United  States 
owes  you  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  for  that  course."  ' 

It  is  true  that  he  was  a  strict  constructiouist  of 
the  Jeffersonian  and  Madisonian  school,  and  in  the 
Senate  he  had  put  himself  in  an  attitude  of  opposi 
tion  to  internal  improvements,  the  protective  sys 
tem  and  the  national  bank.  Since  that  time,  how 
ever,  he  had  given  up  his  seat  rather  than  obey  the 
resolutions  of  the  Virginia  legislature,  instructing 
him  to  vote  to  place  Benton's  black  lines  around 
the  record  of  censure  against  Jackson.  He  thus 
came  to  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  martyr,  worthy  of 
reward  at  the  hands  of  the  Whig  party.  He  had 
1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  119-1UO. 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     277 

wept  at  Harrisburg,  it  is  said,  when  Clay  was  not 
nominated,  a  test  of  fealty  which  seemed  to  augur 
well  for  his  future  course,  as  a  Vice- President  at 
least.  As  has  been  too  often  the  case  in  American 
history,  however,  no  thought  was  given  to  the 
emergency  in  which  he  might  come  to  be  President, 
else  one  of  those  half-dozen  men  who  had  so  indig 
nantly  rejected  the  proposal  at  Harrisburg  might 
have  consented  to  join  his  name  with  "Old  Tippe- 
canoe'  s ' ?  for  the  great  contest. 

Tyler  entered  his  office  with  the  determination  to 
be  a  President  in  deed  as  well  as  in  name.  His  first 
utterances  indicated  an  intention  to  recommend  and 
support  the  leading  Whig  policies  only  in  a  quali 
fied  way,  but  Clay  believed  that  if  he  led,  the  Presi 
dent  would  follow.  He  therefore  took  command  in 
the  Senate  in  that  imperial  style  which  was  charac 
teristic  of  his  nature,  and  fitted  him  as  it  did  few 
others  who  ever  assumed  to  speak  in  a  tone  of  like 
authority.  The  Whigs  came  out  of  the  election  of 
1840  with  a  majority  of  seven  in  the  Senate  and  of 
nearly  fifty  in  the  popular  branch  of  Congress.  Clay 
is  said  to  have  declared  to  a  friend  :  "  Tyler  dares 
not  resist  me,  I  will  drive  him  before  me."  He  an 
nounced  in  a  resolution  at  the  opening  of  the  extra 
session  what  would  constitute  the  policies  of  his 
party.  They  included  the  repeal  of  the  sub-treasury 
law  which  had  so  lately  gone  into  effect,  the  incor 
poration  of  a  national  bank,  his  bill  distributing 
the  proceeds  of  land  sales  to  the  various  states,  and 
higher  tariff  duties, — all  financial  measures  destined 
to  fall  within  the  field  of  the  Committee  on  Finance, 
of  which  he  was  the  chairman. 


278  HENEY  CLAY 

Since  Clay  had  pronounced,  and  firmly  beliered 
the  sub- treasury  bill  to  be  an  entirely  pernicious 
and  dangerous  measure,  he  first  arranged  for  its  re 
peal.  Tyler  approved,  and  the  way  was  clear  for 
the  great  Whig  remedy,  a  national  bank.  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  Ewing,  a  warm  friend  of  Clay, 
cordially  recommended  the  establishment  of  such 
a  fiscal  agency  in  Washington.  Clay  reported  a 
bill  from  his  committee  in  the  Senate,  and  it  passed 
both  houses  of  Congress  with  the  party  influences 
behind  it,  being  sent  at  once  to  the  President. 
Then  the  thunder  crashed  and  the  storm  descended. 
There  was  nothing  in  Tyler's  past  course  of  life  to 
warrant  any  one  in  feeling  confident  that  he  would 
sign  the  bill.  There  were  rumors  in  plenty  that  he 
would  veto  it  and  already  on  July  4,  1841,  Clay 
wrote  to  Brooke:  "Mr.  Tyler's  opinions  about  a 
bank  are  giving  us  great  trouble.  Indeed  they 
threaten  not  only  a  defeat  on  that  measure,  but  en 
danger  the  permanency  and  the  ascendency  of  the 
Whig  cause."  Nevertheless,  it  was  scarcely  con 
ceivable  that  in  view  of  the  sweeping  triumph,  in 
1840,  of  Whig  principles,  of  which  the  bank  seemed 
to  be  the  chief,  and  the  unusual  and  wholly  acci 
dental  manner  in  which  Tyler  came  into  the  presi 
dency,  that  he  would  defy  Clay  and  the  vote  of  the 
party  in  Congress  on  this  subject.  It  was  precisely 
that  which  he  did  on  August  16th. 

The  elation  of  the  Democrats  was  as  great  as  the 
auger  of  the  Whigs,  who  gathered  in  front  of  the 
White  House  to  denounce  him  as  a  "traitor,"  a 
name  which  followed  him  over  the  country.  He 
was  generally  hanged  and  burned  in  effigy,  as  soon 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     279 

as  the  magnitude  of  the  act  was  understood,  and  it 
was  the  beginning  of  a  rupture  between  the  Presi 
dent  and  his  party  which  rapidly  tended  to  become 
absolute. 

On  the  19th  of  August  Clay  made  his  reply  to  the 
veto  message.  It  was  extremely  temperate  in  tone 
under  all  the  circumstances  and  for  that  reason  con 
veyed  rebuke  more  stinging  than  if  it  had  been  de 
livered  in  a  thunderous  style.  It  was  an  appeal  to 
reason  rather  than  to  passion.  There  were  allusions 
to  the  speaker's  long  and  intimate  friendship  with  the 
President,  which  he  wished  not  to  see  brought  to  an 
end.  He  expressed  the  desire  that  no  party  defec 
tion  or  schism  should  arise  to  interfere  with  the  ex 
ecution  of  the  strong  commands  of  the  nation  of  the 
year  before.  Yet  he  yielded  nothing.  His  was  the 
tone  of  the  leader,  and  it  rang  through  the  country, 
serving  to  delay  judgment  against  Tyler  until  the 
people  should  have  farther  evidence  of  his  temper. 
Clay  wished  no  one  to  despair  because  of  disappoint 
ment  in  one  measure.  More  remained  to  be  done. 
It  was  not  the  time  to  adjourn  and  "go  home  in 
disgust."  "  Let  us  do  all,"  he  enjoined,  "  let  us  do 
everything  we  can  for  the  public  good." 

His  sober  attitude  did  not  serve  to  save  him  from 
the  attack  of  the  President's  defenders,  who  included 
Senator  Rives,  of  Virginia.  It  was  in  a  rejoinder  to 
Rives  that  Clay  framed  a  famous  phrase.  The 
President,  he  intimated,  was  surrounded  by  privy 
councilors,  by  men  engineering  a  cabal,  "a  new 
sort  of  kitchen  cabinet,"  whose  object  was  to 
alienate  Mr.  Tyler  from  his  old  friends.  They 
were  beating  about  for  recruits  and  "  endeavoring 


280  HENRY  CLAY 

to  form  a  third  party  with  materials  so  scanty  as  to 
be  wholly  insufficient  to  compose  a  decent  corporal's 
guard."  The  words  were  immediately  caught  up 
everywhere  and  were  used  against  Tyler  and  th_' 
second-rate  men  who  moved  around  him  until  tli3 
end  of  his  term. 

The  attention  of  Congress  was  now  diverted  to 
the  land  bill  advocated  by  Clay  at  so  many 
sessions,  thus  far  in  vain,  except  as  to  the  hurtful 
feature  of  it  which  caused  a  distribution  of  th  > 
surplus  among  the  several  states.  It  was  nov 
mutilated  before  it  could  be  enacted,  since  an 
amendment,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Compromise  of  1833, 
provided  that,  whenever  the  needs  of  the  Treasury 
should  exceed  the  twenty  per  cent,  horizontal  rate, 
fixed  in  that  year,  the  distribution  to  the  states 
should  be  suspended. 

Meanwhile  Webster,  and  other  intermediaries  be 
tweeu  the  President  and  Congress,  endeavored  to 
outline  a  plan  for  a  bank  which  would  meet  with 
Executive  favor.  As  even  the  name  seemed  to  have 
a  hateful  suggestion,  it  was  to  be  called  a  "  Fiscal 
Corporation."  The  measure  passed  the  House  and 
went  to  the  Senate,  which  duly  approved  it  on 
September  3d,  but  on  the  9th  it,  too,  was  vetoed. 
The  President  had  changed  his  mind  after  confer 
ring,  if  accounts  are  not  at  fault,  with  the  "  corporal' R 
guard."  This  was  bitterness  that  no  language  could 
quite  compass  and  the  Whig  leaders  at  Washington, 
taking  counsel  with  ClajT,  resolved  upon  action 
which  would  result  in  reading  Tyler  out  of  the 
party. 

The  special  session  of  Congress  was  to  adjourn  on 


«  TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLER,  TOO"     281 

September  13th.  After  the  second  baiik  veto,  the 
members  of  the  cabinet  were  invited  to  meet  with 
Clay  to  discuss  the  subject,  though  Webster,  who 
would  have  been  a  powerful  addition,  did  not  attend. 
He  had  been  unwilling  for  some  time  to  follow 
whithersoever  Clay  led,  and  he  had  in  hand  impor 
tant  negotiations  with  England  concerning  the 
Northwestern  boundary,  which  finally  resulted  in 
the  Ashburton  Treaty.  There  were  patriotic,  as 
well  as  personal  considerations,  which  led  him  to 
seek  no  estrangement  with  the  President  at  such  a 
time.  It  was  agreed  at  the  meeting  that  the  mem 
bers  of  the  cabinet  should,  one  after  another,  resign 
on  September  llth.  As  they  would  each  and  all  be 
dismissed  anyhow,  they  would  go  together,  thus 
creating  a  great  public  impression  which  could  not 
fail  to  redound  to  the  party  advantage. 

Tyler  found  himself,  according  to  the  programme, 
without  a  minister,  except  Webster,  whom  he 
seemed  greatly  to  prize.  With  such  support  he  de 
clared  Clay  to  be  a  "  doomed  man. ' '  He  thought  that 
they  would  soon  create  a  new  Whig  party.  Webster 
would  bring  him  New  England  and  they  would 
win  other  states ;  but  he  reckoned  badly.  He  did 
not  know  the  great  power  which  Clay  wielded  over 
the  party.  Webster's  course  was  questioned  when 
it  was  not  openly  disapproved,  even  in  his  own 
state,  and  the  date  when  he  too  must  retire  from 
such  unusual  company  was  delayed  but  a  little 
while.  Indignation,  lately  without  example,  was 
directed  against  Tyler  in  Whig  newspapers,  in 
public  meetings  called  especially  to  denounce  him, 
in  every  variety  of  medium  for  the  expression  of 


282  HEXEY  CLAY 

public  opinion.  The  state  elections  in  the  autuma 
of  1841  were  coming  on,  and  in  many  parts  of  the 
country  there  was  almost  as  much  excitement  as 
in  the  memorable  preceding  year. 

From  the  Whig  point  of  view,  however,  they 
were  not  so  happy  in  their  results  as  might  have 
been  hoped.  On  October  28th,  Clay  at  ' '  Ashland ' ' 
wrote  to  Brooke  :  "The  issue  of  the  elections  this 
fall,  however  much  to  be  regretted,  perhaps  ought 
not  to  surprise  us.  An  army  which  believed  itself 
betrayed  by  its  commander -in -chief  will  never  fight 
well  under  him  or  while  he  remains  in  authority.'1 
Though  the  results  were  in  some  ways  disappoint  - 
ing,  the  party  was  aroused  from  centre  to  rim  by 
Tyler's  apostasy,  as  the  Whigs  generally  considered 
it.  The  Democrats,  while  they  exulted  in  his 
course,  gave  him  no  sincere  respect,  and  his  tern) 
of  office  proceeded  almost  frieudlessly.  Clay's  re 
ward  was  the  knowledge  that  he  had  the  faith  and 
love  of  his  party.  He  was  now  its  unquestioned 
leader,  and  was  determined  to  execute  the  resolve 
which  he  had  several  times  taken  to  retire  from  the 
Senate.  He  would  soon  conclude  eleven  years  of 
continuous  service  in  that  body.  On  January  27th 
he  wrote  Brooke,  from  Washington,  as  follows  : 

uAs  we  advance  in  years,  our  labors  ought  to 
lighten.  With  the  view  to  lessen  mine,  and  in  con 
templation  of  the  unhappy  and  disturbed  state  of 
our  public  councils,  arising  out  of  the  course  of  Mr. 
Tyler,  I  mean  to  resign  my  seat  in  the  Senate  dur- 
iug  this  session.  I  want  rest  and  my  private  affairs 
want  attention.  Nevertheless  I  would  make  any 
personal  sacrifice,  if,  by  remaining  here,  I  could  do 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     283 

any  good,  but  my  belief  is  I  can  effect  nothing,  and 
perhaps  ray  absence  may  remove  an  obstacle  to 
something  being  done  by  others.  1  shall  therefore 
go  home  in  the  spring."  ] 

This  view  of  the  situation  was  entirely  sound. 
It  was  a  prospect  very  different  from  that  which  he 
had  beheld  a  year  before  when  the  party  entered 
office  with  so  much  hope  of  great  achievement. 

Another  financial  question  engaged  Mr.  Clay's  at 
tention  in  March,  1842.  As  the  time  drew  near  for 
the  reduction  of  the  tariff  to  the  horizontal  rate  of 
twenty  per  cent.,  where  under  the  terms  of  the  Com 
promise  of  1833  it  would  stand  after  June  30,  1842, 
he,  as  one  of  the  parties  to  that  agreement,  as  well 
as  the  Whig  leader,  felt  that  he  had  a  duty  to  per 
form.  Even  before  the  day  of  reduction,  the  reve 
nues  were  inadequate,  counting  in  the  proceeds 
of  the  land  sales  which  he  still  wished  to  distribute 
to  the  states.  Calhouu,  on  his  side,  attributed  the 
financial  distress  of  the  country,  now  prolonged  for 
several  years,  to  the  tariff,  a  theory  which  Clay 
combated  vigorously.  He  declared  again  that  it 
was  his  purpose  as  long  as  he  remained  in  the  Sen 
ate  to  see  that  "  the  original  principles  of  the  act  [of 
1833]  should  be  carried  out  faithfully  and  honestly."  2 
It  was  a  task  of  some  embarrassment  now  to  state 
that  duties  greater  than  twenty  per  cent.,  toward 
which,  for  the  conciliation  of  South  Carolina,  they 
had  all  the  while  been  tending,  were  necessary  even 
before  that  ideal  had  been  reached.  He  very  truly 
said,  however,  that  there  was  no  such  limitation  in 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p .  456. 
'Speech  in  Senate,  February  18,  1842. 


284  HENRY  CLAY 

the  act ;  the  impression  that  the  tariff  was  not 
to  exceed  the  horizontal  rate  of  twenty  per  cent, 
after  1842  was  entirely  erroneous.  This  was  not 
one  of  the  principles  of  the  Compromise,  and  it  had 
been  distinctly  stated  in  1833  that  the  duties  there 
after  should  be  what  the  needs  and  exigencies  of  the 
nation  might  require.  After  carefully  reviewing 
the  financial  situation  of  the  government,  he  found 
that.  $26,000,000  were  needed  annually  from  cus 
toms,  and  that  with  importation  running  at  the 
present  rate,  an  ad  valorem  duty  of  thirty  per  cent 
was  imperatively  demanded. 

His  speeches  at  this  session  were  couched  in  mod 
erate  and  conciliatory  language.  They  seemed  to 
be  the  laying  down  of  programmes  for  his  followers 
by  a  departing  leader,  who  wished  to  go  in  the  spirit 
of  peace.  His  place  was  to  be  taken  by  his  friend, 
John  J.  Critteuden,  who  had  entered  the  Senate  as 
his  colleague  from  Kentucky,  in  1835,  and  resigned 
in  1841  only  to  enter  Harrison's  cabinet,  which  he 
had  left  at  the  time  of  the  explosion  in  the  preced 
ing  September.  On  March  31st  Clay  delivered  his 
farewell  address.  It  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
events  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  Senate. 
The  act  was  performed  with  all  the  dramatic  ac 
companiments  and  settings  which  characterized  his 
life  as  a  great  popular  leader.  The  chamber  was 
crowded  by  men  and  women  who  bent  forward  to 
hear  the  stately  sentences  which  were  for  the  last 
time,  as  it  was  believed,  to  flow  in  that  place  from 
the  silver  tongue  of  their  beloved  orator.  The  peo 
ple  "  seemed  to  be  literally  piled  one  upon  another." 
Not  only  was  every  seat  taken,  but  the  railings  also 


"TIPPECANOB  AND  TYLEE,  TOO"     285 

were  occupied,  while  every  avenue  leading  to  the 
chamber  was  choked  with  humanity.  Two  hours 
before  the  speech  began  exit  and  entrance  were 
equally  impossible. 

There  was  no  disappointment.  It  was  a  solemn 
scene.  Clay  rose  to  offer  '*  the  last  motion  I  shall 
ever  make  in  this  body7'— the  presentation  of  the 
credentials  of  his  successor.  He  opened  with  a 
tribute  to  the  Senate,  which  he  said  could,  "  with 
out  arrogance  or  presumption,  stand  an  advantageous 
comparison  with  any  deliberative  body  that  ever 
existed  in  ancient  or  modern  times."  He  had  been 
in  the  public  service  almost  continuously  since  1806. 
It  was  not  for  him  to  say  what  had  been  his  success. 
"  History,  if  she  deign  to  notice  me,  and  posterity, 
if  the  recollection  of  my  humble  actions  shall  be 
transmitted  to  posterity,  are  the  best,  the  truest  and 
the  most  impartial  judges.  When  death  has  closed 
the  scene,  then  sentence  will  be  pronounced  and  to 
that  I  commit  myself." 

He  spoke  of  his  enemies  without  bitterness,  and 
of  his  friends,  to  whom  his  heart  went  out  in  "never- 
ceasing  gratitude."  His  feelings,  when  alluding  to 
them,  overcame  him,  and  he  proceeded  with  u  deep 
sensibility  and  difficult  utterance."  He  paid  his 
tribute  to  Kentucky  ;  he  repelled  the  charge  that  he 
was  a  "  dictator."  He  owned  that  his  nature  was 
warm,  his  temper  ardent  and  his  disposition,  es 
pecially  in  relation  to  the  public  service,  enthu 
siastic,  and  he  made  his  apologies  to  any  of  his 
brother  senators  whom  "he  may  have  offended,  per 
haps,  by  word  or  tone  of  speech  in  the  course  of  de 
bate.  He  would  go  without  carrying  with  him  "a 


286  HENRY  CLAY 

single  feeling  of  resentment  or  dissatisfaction  to  th-3 
Senate,  or  any  one  of  its  members."  Such  senti 
ments  should  be  consigned  to  oblivion.  His  wish 
was  that  the  recollections  of  all  "  shall  dwell  in 
future  only  on  those  conflicts  of  mind  with  mind, 
those  intellectual  struggles,  those  noble  exhibition  s 
of  the  powers  of  logic,  argument  and  eloquence  hon 
orable  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  nation,  in  which  each 
has  sought  and  contended  for  what  he  deemed  t ho 
best  mode  of  accomplishing  one  common  object,  tlni 
interest  and  the  most  happiness  of  our  beloved  coun 
try."  He  prayed  "the  most  precious  blessings  of 
Heaven  "  to  rest  upon  "  the  whole  Senate,  and  each 
member  of  it,"  and  bade  them  all  "along,  a  last 
ing,  and  a  friendly  farewell." 

Thereupon  Mr.  Critteuden  took  the  oath  of  omen 
and  William  C.  Preston  of  South  Carolina,  Calhoun' s 
colleague  though  a  Whig  and  a  friend  of  Clay,  rosn 
to  say  that  what  had  just  occurred  was  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  the  Senate,  and  he  would  move  an 
adjournment,  which  was  unanimously  agreed  to. 
The  members  pressed  around  the  orator.  Calhoun 
shook  hands  with  him  for  the  first  time  in  many 
years.  For  a  minute  or  two  neither  man  was  able 
to  speak.  Finally  as  they  parted  Clay  said,  ' '  Gi  ve 
my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Calhoun."  Sober  old  sen 
ators  as  well  as  ladies  in  the  galleries  were  in  tears 
while  Clay  spoke,  and  impressive  as  is  the  ora 
tion  upon  a  reading  at  this  day,  one  who  heard  it 
has  declared  that  the  printed  words  convey  only  the 
most  meagre  suggestion  of  its  power  and  beauty. 
Crittenden  wrote  to  a  friend  that  "  Clay's  leaving 
Congress  was  something  like  the  soul's  quitting  the 


"TIPPECANOE  AND  TYLEK,  TOO  »     <S9 

body."1  "It  was  the  first  occasion  of  the  kind,' 
said  Benton  in  describing  the  scene  a  few  years  later, 
"  and  thus  far  has  been  the  last."  He  added  sagely 
that  "it  might  not  be  recomniendable  for  any  one 
except  another  Henry  Clay — if  another  should  ever 
appear, — to  attempt  the  imitation." 

1  Life  of  Crittenden,  Vol.  I,  p.  177. 


28 


CHAPTER  XI 

SLAVERY   AND   ANTI- SLA  VERY 

BEYOND  all  doubt  Henry  Clay  hated  slavery, 
though  he  owned  negroes  as  did  most  ineii  of  his 
wealth  and  position  in  Kentucky.  He  had  as  body- 
servants  one  or  two  slaves  who  were  his  almost  in 
separable  companions.  One  of  these,  Aaron  Dupuy, 
accompanied  him  to  Washington  in  the  early  years 
of  his  public  career,  and  also  went  abroad  with  him 
when  he  was  commissioner  in  1814-1815  at  Ghent. 
Aaron's  wife,  Mammy  Lottie,  nursed  all  of  Mr. 
Clay's  children  and  many  of  his  grandchildren,  and 
when  Aaron  became  too  old  for  the  service,  his 
place  as  valet  was  taken  by  his  son  Charles,  of 
whom  Mr.  Clay  spoke  as  "  my  faithful  servant  and 
friend  Charles." 

He  was  not  oblivious  to  the  evils  of  slavery — no 
thoughtful,  humane  man  could  be — but  he  had  been 
closely  associated  with  this  system  of  labor,  and  it 
did  not  bear  upon  him  as  the  intolerable  yoke 
which  it  seemed  to  increasing  numbers  of  per 
sons  at  the  North,  in  large  part  drawn  from  his 
own  political  party.  \Yhile  in  early  life  he  had  ex 
pressed  his  abhorrence  of  the  institution,  as  had  most 
of  the  Virginia  "fathers"  out  of  whose  school  he 
sprang,  he  had  spoken  quite  clearly  on  the  slave 
holders'  side  while  the  question  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  was  under  discussion. 

He  was    always    a  consistent  advocate  of    the 


SLAVEBY  AND  ANTI  SLAVEKY        289 

colonization  of  the  negroes  in  Liberia,  or  elsewhere, 
but  this  policy  was  recommended  with  the  desire  of 
ridding  the  country  of  the  free  negro  rather  than  the 
slave,  and  was  therefore  a  sectional  measure  designed 
principally  to  favor  the  South. 

In  1830  while  William  Lloyd  Garrison  was  in 
prison  in  Baltimore,  the  young  and  enthusiastic 
anti-slavery  poet,  John  G.  Whittier,  wrote  to  Henry 
Clay,  asking  him  to  intervene  in  behalf  of  the 
Abolitionist.  Clay  communicated  with  his  friend 
Niles,  and  probably  would  have  paid  the  fine  to  ob 
tain  Garrison's  release  if  measures  to  secure  this 
end  had  not  been  earlier  taken  by  other  men.1 
This  was  of  course  before  Abolition  became  the 
sectional  firebrand  which  it  was  soon  to  be.  Mr. 
Clay  wasted  little  sympathy  upon  Mr.  Garrison  in 
later  years. 

1  Referred  to  in  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  by  his  children, 
Vol.  I,  pp.  189-190.  In  1879  Whittier  wrote  from  Amesbury 
to  Thomas  H.  Clay,  grandson  of  Henry  Clay:  "  When  W.  L. 
Garrison  was  imprisoned  in  Baltimore,  he  wrote  me  a  letter 
from  his  prison.  I  was  anxious  to  do  something  for  him. 
I  had  no  knowledge  of  any  person  of  influence  in  Baltimore  and 
it  occurred  to  me  that  Henry  Clay,  whom  I  greatly  admired, 
might  possibly  exert  an  influence  in  his  favor.  I  wrote  him 
stating  the  case,  and  mentioned  the  fact  that  Garrison  had  been 
the  first,  or  nearly  the  first,  to  nominate  him  for  the  presidency 
in  New  England.  After  some  delay,  I  received  a  letter  from 
thy  honored  grandfather,  saying  that  from  my  representation, 
and  from  his  own  knowledge  of  Garrison,  he  had  communicated 
with  a  friend  in  Baltimore  (I  think  he  mentioned  Mr.  Niles  of 
the  Register)  asking  him  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  and  render 
on  his  account  what  aid  he  could  to  Mr.  Garrison  ;  but  he  had 
just  learned  that  he  had  been  anticipated  by  a  New  York 
merchant  [Arthur  Tappan]  who  had  paid  the  fine  and  set  him  at 
liberty.  .  .  I  have  always  regarded  it  as  a  very  noble  act 

on  thy  grandfather's  part,  characteristic  of  his  noble  and  generous 
nature.  Would  to  Heaven  there  could  be  found  in  all  the  South 
at  this  time  one  like  him." 


290  HENRY  CLAY 

The  truth  is  that  his  utterances  covered  both  sides 
of  the  question,  though  there  is  not  the  least  reason 
to  doubt  that  he  sincerely  and  earnestly  desired  the 
emancipation  of  the  negroes  and  would  have  con 
tributed  in  any  way,  which  seemed  to  him  feasible, 
and  right,  to  the  bringing  about  of  this  object. 

Mr.  Clay  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  which  was  formed  to  return 
free  people  of  color  to  Africa,  and  in  1836,  upon  tho 
death  of  James  Madison,  he  became  its  president. 
The  speech  delivered  before  it  in  the  hall  of  th  3 
House  of  Representatives  on  January  20,  1827,  to 
which  reference  has  been  made,  was  not  anything 
like  an  Abolition  document.  He  clearly  said  that 
the  general  government  had  no  constitutional  power 
to  emancipate  the  slaves.  It  was  a  matter  for  the 
states,  and  u  the  states  only  which  tolerate  slavery.'' 
Yet  he  had  visions  of  the  extinction  of  the  evil. 
They  who  reproached  the  society  for  its  exertions 
were  in  a  difficult  position.  u  If  they  would  repress 
all  tendencies  toward  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipa 
tion,  they  must  do  more  than  put  down  the  benev 
olent  efforts  of  this  society.  They  must  go  back  to 
the  era  of  our  liberty  and  independence,  and  muzzle 
the  cannon  which  thunder  its  annual  joyous  return. 
.  .  .  They  must  blow  out  the  moral  lights  around 
us,  and  extinguish  that  greatest  torch  of  all  which 
America  presents  to  a  benighted  world,  pointing  the 
way  to  their  rights,  their  liberties,  and  their  happi 
ness.  And  when  they  have  achieved  all  these  pur 
poses  their  work  will  yet  be  incomplete.  They 
must  penetrate  the  human  soul,  and  eradicate  the 
light  of  reason,  and  the  love  of  liberty.  Then,  and 


SLAVEEY  AND  ANTI-SLAVEKY        291 

not  till  then,  when  universal  darkness  and  despair 
prevail,  can  you  perpetuate  slavery,  and  repress  all 
sympathies,  and  all  humane  and  benevolent  efforts 
among  freemen,  in  behalf  of  the  unhappy  portion 
of  our  race  doomed  to  bondage."  1 

In  his  speech  before  the  Kentucky  Colonization 
Society  at  Frankfort  on  December  17,  1829,  he  asked 
earnestly,  "Is  there  no  remedy  f  Must  we  endure 
perpetually  all  the  undoubted  mischiefs  of  a  state  of 
slavery,  as  it  affects  both  the  free  and  bond  por 
tions  of  these  states  ?  ' ' 

And  on  March  28.  1832,  in  a  speech  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  Mr.  Clay  expressed  the  hope  that  "at 
some  day  or  other,  however  distant,  and  in  some 
mode,  the  country  would  be  rid  of  this,  the  darkest 
spot  on  its  mantle." 

The  conviction  that  the  general  government  had 
no  authority  over  slavery,  and  that  it  could  be 
regulated  only  by  state  action  in  those  states  which 
tolerated  it,  was  reaffirmed  in  the  Senate  in  a  speech 
on  the  public  lands  on  June  20,  1832. 2  It  became, 
in  a  sense,  the  platform  upon  which  Mr.  Clay  stood 
until  the  development  of  events  called  for  a  fuller 
statement  of  his  principles. 

Congress  was  now  beginning  to  receive  petitions 
praying  its  members  to  take  various  kinds  of  drastic 
action  upon  the  slavery  question.  Their  number 
rapidly  increased  and  the  mere  presentation  of  them 
angered  the  Southerners  so  greatly  that  they  made 
arrangements  to  forbid  it  in  the  House,  and  if  pos 
sible  would  have  done  sp-4n  the  Senate.  Against 
any  violation  of  the  right  of  petition,  Clay  protested 

1  Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  339.  2  Ibid.,  p.  514. 


292  HENKY  CLAY 

vigorously  in  1836.  It  had  been  his  habit  to  bring 
in  those  petitions  which  were  sent  to  him.  He 
wished  that  "another  organ"  had  been  chosen  but, 
when  they  were  committed  to  his  care,  it  was,  he 
conceived,  his  duty  to  present  them.  This  duty  was 
"  of  a  constitutional,  almost  a  sacred  character. ' 7  ' 
He  did  approve,  though  reluctantly,  of  Jame^ 
Buchanan's  proposal,  that  when  they  were  received 
it  should  be  without  debate. 

In  a  similar  way  Clay  opposed  Calhouu's  plan  to 
prohibit  the  circulation  through  the  post-offices  in 
the  slave  states  of  Abolition  tracts  and  other  argu 
mentative  material,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
"  incendiary."  Jackson  in  his  message  to  Congress 
in  December,  1835,  had  urged  the  passage  of  such  a 
law.  Clay  saw  only  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people  in  this  course.  He  was  opposed  to  it  "from 
the  first  to  the  last,"  and  he  hoped  that  a  time 
would  never  come  "when  the  general  government 
should  undertake  to  correct  the  evil  by  such  reme 
dies." 

In  December,  1837,  when  petitions  were  being  re 
ceived  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  amid  continued  Southern  protests,  Clay 
exclaimed  :  "It  has  been  said  that  this  is  not  a  case 
for  argument.  Not  a  case  for  argument  !  What  is 
it  that  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  our  free  institutions? 
Argument,  inquiry,  reasoning,  consideration,  de 
liberation.  What  question  is  there  in  human  affairs 
so  weak  or  so  strong  that  it  cannot  be  approached 
by  argument  and  reason  ?  " 

On  December  27,  1837,  Calhoun  in  order  to  bring 
1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  36. 


SLAVEKY  AND  ANTI-SLAVEBY        293 

the  question  to  an  issue  and  ascertain  where  the 
senators  stood,  presented  a  series  of  resolutions,  six 
in  number,  which  were  a  declaration  of  the  extreme 
state-rights  view  of  slavery.  They  led  to  a  fuller 
discussion  of  the  subject  than  had  yet  been  given  to 
it  in  the  United  States  Senate.  It  proceeded  for 
many  days,  Calhoun  leading  in  a  bitter  dictatorial 
spirit,  all  the  while  hinting  of,  when  he  did  not  di 
rectly  allude  to,  the  dissolution  of  the  Federal  bond. 

"  We  allow  ourselves  to  speak  too  frequently,  and 
with  too  much  levity  of  a  separation  of  this  Union," 
said  Clay,  by  way  of  rebuke.  "  It  is  a  terrible  word, 
to  which  our  ears  should  not  be  familiarized.  I  de 
sire  to  see  in  continued  safety  and  prosperity  this 
Union  and  no  other  Union.  I  go  for  this  Union  as 
it  is,  one  and  indivisible,  without  diminution.  I 
will  neither  voluntarily  leave  it  nor  be  driven  out 
by  force.  Here,  in  my  place,  I  shall  contend  for 
all  the  rights  of  the  state  which  sent  me  here.  I 
shall  contend  for  them  with  undoubting  confidence, 
and  with  the  perfect  conviction  that  they  are  safer 
in  the  Union  than  they  would  be  out  of  the  Union." 

On  January  9,  1838,  he  moved  seven  resolutions 
which  he  wished  to  substitute  for  those  of  Mr.  Cal- 
houu.  They  were  in  substance  : 

(1)  That  slavery  in  those  states  in  which  it  ex 
ists  is  u  subject  to  the  exclusive  power  and  control 
of  those  states  respectively." 

(2)  That  petitions  advocating  Abolition  in  any 
state  in  which  it  exists  upon  coming  to  the  Senate 
" shall  be  instantly  rejected  without  debate." 

(3)  That  Abolition  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
would  be  in  violation  of  the  good  faith  implied  in 


294  HENEY  CLAY 

the  cession  by  Virginia  and  Maryland  to  the  United 
(States  of  that  District.  In  any  event  it  could  not 
be  effected  without  the  compensation  of  the  owners, 
nor  "  without  exciting  a  degree  of  just  alarm  and 
apprehension  in  the  states  recognizing  slavery,  far 
transcending,  in  mischievous  tendency,  any  possible 
benefit. " 

(4)  That  "  slavery  ought  not  to   be  abolished 
within  the  District  of  Columbia,"  in  the  "deliberate 
judgment"    of  the   Senate,   and  that  "all  sincere 
friends  of  the  Union"  should  cease  the  agitation  of 
the  question. 

(5)  That  it  would  be  "  highly  inexpedient "  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  territory  of  Florida  because 
of  the  apprehension  such  action  would  excite  in  the 
slave  states ;    because  the  people  of  the  territory 
have  not  asked  it  to  be  done  ;  and  because  it  would 
be  in  "violation  of  a  solemn  compromise"  fixing 
the  line  between  slavery  and  anti-slavery  at  36°  30' 
north  latitude,  except  in  the  case  of  Missouri. 

(6)  That  Congress  has  no  constitutional  power 
to  interfere  with  the  domestic  slave-trade. 

(7)  That  in  spite  of  sectional  agitation  the  Sen 
ate  "beholds  with  the  deepest  satisfaction  every 
where  prevailing  an  unconquerable  attachment  to 
the  Union  as  the  sure  bulwark  of  the  safety,  liberty 
and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the  United  States." 

From  our  point  of  view  at  this  day,  these  declara 
tions  would  seem  sufficiently  far  from  Abolitionist 
standards  to  conciliate  the  most  devoted  disciple  of 
slavery;  but  Calhoun  would  not  be  conciliated. 
The  difference  between  him  and  the  senator  from 
Kentucky,  he  said,  was  "as  wide  as  the  poles."1 

1  Calhonn,  Speeches,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  140  et  seq. 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        295 

The  net  result  of  the  discussion  was,  of  course,  noth 
ing  but  more  discussion,  both  in  and  out  of  Con 
gress.  The  demands  of  the  Abolitionists  became 
more  insistent,  and  on  February  7,  1839,  Clay  ad 
dressed  the  Senate  at  considerable  length  in  a  care 
fully  prepared  statement  designed  to  have  its  influ 
ence  in  the  approaching  presidential  campaign. 
He  is  said  to  have  taken  counsel  of  his  friend 
Senator  Preston,  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  result 
was  a  speech  which  should  have  strengthened,  and 
did  unquestionably  strengthen  him  and  his  party  in 
the  slave  states.  Clay  spoke  ostensibly  to  a  petition 
of  anti- Abolitionists,  protesting  against  the  move 
ment  for  emancipation  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

He  began  by  reiterating  his  opposition  to  the 
plan  which  Congress  had  adopted  of  refusing  re 
spectful  attention  to  the  petitions  of  the  Aboli 
tionists.  It  was  inexpedient.  It  created  "  inju 
rious  impressions  upon  the  minds  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  community."  He  addressed  himself  then  to 
(he  Abolitionists  or,  as  he  called  them,  the  "  ultra- 
Abolitionists,"  who  were  making  this  demand  about 
the  District  of  Columbia,  who  insisted  that  Con 
gress  should  free  the  slaves  in  the  territory  of  Flor 
ida,  and  who  aimed  to  prevent  the  admission  to  the 
Union  of  any  more  slave  states  and  to  prohibit  the 
traffic  in  slaves  between  the  several  states.  To  all 
of  these  propositions  he  opposed  his  arguments,  and 
saw  in  the  whole  agitation  the  signs  of  a  terrible 
civil  war.  Congress  should  not  be  petitioned  on 
such  subjects. 

"  The  free  states,"  he  said,  "have  no  more 
power  or  right  to  interfere  with  institutions  in  the 


296  HENEY  CLAY 

slave  states,  confided  to  the  exclusive  jurisdiction 
of  those  states,  than  they  would  have  to  interfere 
with  institutions  existing  in  any  foreign  country. 
What  would  be  thought  of  the  formation  of  societies 
in  Great  Britain,  the  issue  of  numerous  inflamma 
tory  publications,  and  the  sending  out  of  lecturers 
throughout  the  kingdom,  denouncing  and  aiming  at 
the  destruction  of  any  of  the  institutions  of  France  I 
Would  they  be  regarded  as  proceedings  warranted 
by  good  neighborhood  !  .  .  .  The  slavery  which 
exists  among  us  is  our  affair,  not  theirs ;  and  they 
have  no  more  just  concern  with  it  than  they  have 
with  slavery  as  it  exists  throughout  the  world." 

There  was  not  only  no  right  to  interfere ;  there 
was  also  no  possible  way  to  deal  with  three  million 
negroes  suddenly  given  their  freedom.  There  would 
at  once  be  a  war  between  the  races,  ending  in  the 
extermination  or  subjugation  of  one  or  the  other  of 
them.  Moreover,  it  would  be  robbery  to  take  away 
from  its  owners  property  valued  at  twelve  hundred 
millions  of  dollars,  and  the  taxes  to  raise  such  a 
fund  could  be  justly  assessed  only  upon  the  free 
states,  "for  it  would  be  a  mockery  of  all  justice, 
and  an  outrage  against  all  equity  to  levy  any  por 
tion  of  the  tax  upon  the  slave  states  to  pay  for  their 
own  unquestioned  property."  Mr.  Clay  declared 
that  the  Abolitionists,  instead  of  "  advancing " 
their  cause  by  their  efforts,  had  "  thrown  back  for 
half  a  century  the  prospect  of  any  species  of  eman 
cipation  of  the  African  race,  gradual  or  immediate, 
in  any  of  the  states."  They  were  doing  more  than 
this  ;  they  were  increasing  the  rigors  of  legislation 
against  slaves  in  the  slave  states.  He  could  see  in 


SLAVEBY  AND  ANTI-SLAVEKY        297 

it  all  only  terrible  injustices  aud  dangers.  "  One 
section,"  he  predicted,  "will  stand  in  menacing 
and  hostile  array  against  the  other.  The  collision 
of  opinion  will  be  quickly  followed  by  the  clash  of 
arms."  And  what  would  it  be  ?  "A  conquest 
without  laurels,  without  glory ;  a  self,  a  suicidal 
conquest ;  a  conquest  of  brothers  over  brothers, 
achieved  by  one  over  another  portion  of  the  de 
scendants  of  common  ancestors." 

"  I  am,  Mr.  President,  no  friend  of  slavery,"  Mr. 
Clay  said  as  he  proceeded.  "The  Searcher  of  all 
hearts  knows  that  every  pulsation  of  mine  beats 
high  and  strong  in  the  cause  of  civil  liberty. 
Wherever  it  is  safe  and  practicable,  I  desire  to  see 
every  portion  of  the  human  family  in  the  enjoyment 
of  it.  But  I  prefer  the  liberty  of  my  own  country 
to  that  of  any  other  people  ;  and  the  liberty  of  my 
own  race  to  that  of  any  other  race.  The  liberty  of 
the  descendants  of  Africa  in  the  United  States  is 
incompatible  with  the  safety  and  liberty  of  the 
European  descendants.  Their  slavery  forms  an  ex 
ception, — an  exception  resulting  from  a  stern  and 
inexorable  necessity — to  the  general  liberty  in  the 
United  States." 

This  was  not  a  very  satisfactory  statement  from 
the  standpoint  of  auti- slavery  ;  indeed,  the  least 
satisfactory  of  all  which  Clay  had  made.  To  many 
it  seemed  like  an  important  surrender,  although  it 
was  but  an  amplification  of  views  that  he  had  before 
expressed  in  only  a  little  different  way.  Calhoun 
pretended  to  see  in  the  declaration  very  marked 
concessions  to  the  South.  The  discussions  of  the 
past  few  months  could  not  seem  barren  of  use,  if 


298  HENKY  CLAY 

such  changes  had  been  effected  in  the  thinking  of 
the  senator  of  Kentucky  to  whom  he  had  listened 
' '  with  pleasure. ' ' 

"  There  were  many,  very  many,  in  the  slave- 
holding  states, ' '  said  he,  * <  who  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  controversy  believed  that  slavery  was 
an  evil  to  be  tolerated,  because  we  could  not  escape 
from  it,  but  not  to  be  defended.  That  has  passed 
away.  We  now  believe  that  it  has  been  a  great 
blessing  to  both  of  the  races — the  European  and 
African — which  by  a  mysterious  Providence  have 
been  brought  together  in  the  Southern  section  of  the 
Union." 

Mr.  Clay  had,  of  course,  said  nothing  of  the  kind. 
He  did,  however,  foresee  a  great  sectional  rupture, 
if  the  Abolitionists  would  not  forbear,  a  greater  one 
than  any  which  had  been  or  ever  could  be  precipi 
tated  by  the  tariff  issue.  He  must  be  given  credit 
for  desiring  most  sincerely  to  avoid  it.  His  love 
for  the  Union  was  at  all  times  deep  and  earnest,  ami 
it  was  his  natural  course  now  to  seek  for  some 
ground  of  conciliation,  for  which  work  his  life  is 
principally  to  be  remembered.  It  was  in  relation 
to  this  speech,  which  Calhouu  so  much  admired, 
that  Clay  uttered  one  of  his  most  famous  phrases. 
The  noble  sentiment  might  have  been  called  forth 
by  service  in  a  worthier  interest,  but  he  had  the 
merit,  then  as  always,  it  may  be  believed,  of  think 
ing  that  he  was  doing  what  the  highest  good  de 
manded.  The  words  were  started  on  their  way  to 
immortality  at  a  Whig  meeting  in  Philadelphia, 
where  Senator  Preston  of  South  Carolina  spoke. 
Clay,  he  said,  had  consulted  him  as  to  the  propriety 


SLAVEEY  AND  ANTI-SLAVEEY        299 

of  making  the  speech  lest  it  might  offend  the  rad 
icals,  but  had  himself  definitely  and  promptly  settled 
the  matter.  "I  trust  the  sentiments  and  opinions 
are  correct,"  the  great  leader  observed;  "I  had 
rather  be  right  than  be  President." 

Clay  aimed  to  steer  some  safe  middle  course  and 
his  task  was  fraught  with  difficulty.  On  March  1, 
184L,  he  said  in  the  Senate  :  "  That  there  is  danger 
impending,  no  one  will  deny.  The  danger  is  in 
ultraism  ;  the  ultraism  of  a  portion  of  the  South  on 
the  one  hand  and  from  Abolition  on  the  other.  It 
is  to  be  averted  by  a  moderate  but  firm  course  ;  not 
being  led  off  into  extremes  on  the  one  side,  or  fright 
ened  on  the  other."  l 

He  again  very  clearly  expressed  his  views  upon 
Abolition  in  a  letter  to  Jacob  Gibson  in  1842.  He 
referred  his  correspondent  to  his  speech  in  the  Sen 
ate  in  1839.  "  I  regard  the  existence  of  slavery  as 
an  evil,"  he  said  ;  "  I  regret  it  and  wish  that  there 
was  not  one  slave  in  the  United  States.  But  it  is  an 
evil  which,  while  it  affects  the  states  only,  or,  prin 
cipally,  where  it  abounds,  each  state  within  which 
it  is  situated  is  the  exclusive  judge  of  what  is  best 
to  be  done  with  it,  and  no  other  state  has  a  right  to 
interfere  in  it.  Kentucky  has  no  right  to  interfere 
with  the  slavery  of  Virginia,  and  Ohio  has  no  right 
to  interfere  with  it  in  either.  The  jurisdiction  of 
each  state,  where  slavery  exists,  is  among  the  re 
served  rights  of  the  states.  Congress  possesses  no 
power  or  authority  to  abolish  it.  Congress  is  in 
vested  with  no  power  relating  to  it,  except  that 
which  assumes  its  legitimate  and  continued  exist- 
1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  273. 


300  HENRY  CLAY 

euce.  .  .  .  Although  I  believe  slavery  to  be  an 
evil,  I  regard  it  as  a  far  less  evil  than  would  arise 
out  of  an  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of 
the  United  States,  and  their  remaining  here  mixed 
up  iu  our  communities.  In  such  a  contingency  I 
believe  that  a  bloody  civil  war  would  ensue,  which 
would  terminate  only  by  the  extinction  of  the  black 
race." 

He  "  regretted  extremely  the  agitation  of  Aboli 
tion  in  the  free  states."  It  had  "  done  no  good,  but 
harm."  It  would  "do  no  good."  "Abolition," 
he  continued,  " is  a  delusion  which  cannot  last.  It 
is  impossible  it  should  endure.  What  is  it?  In 
pursuit  of  a  principle,  a  great  principle  if  you 
please,  it  undertakes  to  tread  down,  and  trample  in 
the  dust,  all  opposing  principles,  however  sacred. 
It  sets  up  the  right  of  the  people  of  one  state  to  dic 
tate  to  the  people  of  other  states.  It  arrays  state 
against  state.  To  make  the  black  man  free,  it 
would  virtually  enslave  the  white  man."  As  to 
what  ultimately  was  to  become  of  slavery  he  did  not 
know.  He  adroitly  referred  the  question  to  higher 
powers.  "I  have  no  doubt,"  said  he,  "that  the 
merciful  Providence  which  permitted  its  introduc 
tion  into  our  country,  against  the  wishes  of  our  an 
cestors,  will  according  to  His  own  good  pleasure 
and  time,  provide  for  its  mitigation  and  termina 
tion." 

His  wish  now  was  that  the  Abolitionists  would 
"cease  to  agitate  a  topic  which  divides,  distracts 
and  inflames  the  community  ;  which  tends  to  array 
man  against  man,  state  against  state,  and  section 
against  section,  and  whicli  threatens  the  greatest  of 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        301 

all  possible  calamities  which  could  befall  this  people, 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union  of  these  states."  ' 

To  suppress  the  issue,  which  was  pressing  its  way 
forward  to  displace  the  older  ones,  was  the  hope  of 
all  the  leaders  of  Clay's  generation,  and  the  more  it 
came  up  to  disturb  their  relations  with  accustomed 
questions  of  politics  the  less  likely  were  they  to 
treat  it  patiently.  It  was  not  that  Clay  now  loved 
slavery  more,  but  that  he  was  tired  of  having  it 
stuck  like  a  goad  into  the  flank  of  everything,  which 
led  to  his  seeming  change  of  view.  Thus  did  he 
hope  to  stifle  the  movement  and  reestablish  equa 
nimity  of  feeling  both  North  and  South. 

There  was  no  question  as  to  Henry  Clay  being 
the  choice  of  the  Whig  party  for  the  presidency  at 
the  election  of  1844.  There  had  been  quite  enough 
experimentation  with  other  men,  and  all  party  senti 
ment  was  directed  toward  his  nomination  for  the 
office.  "As  far  as  I  can  judge,'7  W.  P.  Maugum 
wrote  to  Clay  on  June  15,  1842,  "  I  think  the  cause 
is  constantly  brightening.  All  eyes  are  turned  in  a 
single  direction.  The  indecision,  vacillation  and 
the  manifest  want  of  good  faith,  not  to  say  common 
honesty,  on  the  part  of  those  who  administer  the 
government  have  fixed  the  public  eye  upon  the  ad 
mitted  head  of  the  Whig  party,  with  an  intensity  of 
interest  that  I  am  very  sure  has  never  happened  be 
fore  in  my  time." 

Mr.  Clay's  leaving  the  Senate  appeared  to  be  but 
his  first  step  toward  the  presidency.  Never  had  he 
seemed  so  strong,  so  preeminent,  so  indispensable. 
Never  were  his  friends  so  many  and  so  devoted. 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  4C3  et  seq. 


v 


302  HENRY  CLAY 

The  next  two  years  were  to  see  such  outbursts  of 
love  and  loyalty  as  have  probably  never  been  evoked 
by  any  other  public  man  in  a  democracy.  He  came 
to  be  known  as  the  "  Old  Prince,"  and  wherever  he 
went  he  was  the  object  of  the  most  remarkable  dem 
onstrations.  His  return  to  Lexington  after  his  re 
tirement  from  the  Senate  in  1842  was  signalized  by 
another  great  barbecue.  In  the  open  air  with  thou 
sands  crowded  about  him,  he  responded  to  the  fol 
lowing  sentiment,  which  was  proposed  by  the  pre 
siding  officer  : 

"  Henry  Clay— farmer  of  '  Ashland,'  patriot  and 
philanthropist — the  American  statesman  and  un 
rivaled  orator  of  the  age — illustrious  abroad,  be 
loved  at  home  :  in  a  long  career  of  eminent  public 
service,  often,  like  Aristides,  he  breasted  the  raging 
storm  of  passion  and  delusion,  and  by  offering  him 
self  a  sacrifice,  saved  the  Republic ;  and  now  like 
Ciucinnatus  and  Washington,  having  voluntarily 
retired  to  the  tranquil  walks  of  private  life,  the 
grateful  hearts  of  his  countrymen  will  do  him  ample 
justice  ;  but  come  what  may,  Kentucky  will  stand 
by  him,  and  still  continue  to  cherish  and  defend,  as 
her  own,  the  fame  of  a  son  who  has  emblazoned  her 
escutcheon  with  immortal  renown." 

In  this  speech,  which  was  principally  a  review 
and  defense  of  his  own  life,  with  allusions  to  the 
distressing  financial  situation  and  the  attitude  of 
President  Tyler  toward  the  party  which  had  elected 
him,  not  one  word  was  said  about  slavery.  Clay 
ended  the  discourse  with  a  spirited  appeal. 
u  Whigs,"  he  exclaimed,  "  arouse  from  the  ignoble 
supineness  which  encompasses  you  j  awake  from  the 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        303 

lethargy  in  which  you  lie  bound  ;  cast  from  you  that 
unworthy  apathy  which  seems  to  make  you  indif 
ferent  to  the  fate  of  your  country.  .  .  .  You 
have  been  disappointed,  deceived,  betrayed  ;  shame 
fully  deceived  and  betrayed.  But  will  you  there 
fore  also  prove  false  and  faithless  to  your  country, 
or  obey  the  impulses  of  a  just  and  patriotic  indigna 
tion  !  As  for  Captain  Tyler,  he  is  a  mere  snap,  a 
flash  in  the  pan  ;  pick  your  Whig  flints  and  try 
your  rifles  again.7' 

The  conclusion  of  the  speech  was  marked  by 
"tremendous  cheering."  The  audience,  it  is  said, 
was  the  largest  which  had  ever  been  assembled  in 
Kentucky,  and,  while  Mr.  Clay  specifically  declared 
that  he  himself  had  no  hand  in  the  movement  to 
make  him  the  next  President,  this  was  the  unmis 
takable  intention  of  all  his  friends.  "  That  lam 
thankful  and  grateful,  profoundly  grateful,"  he 
said,  "  for  these  manifestations  of  confidence  and 
attachment,  I  will  not  conceal  or  deny.  But  I  have 
been  and  mean  to  remain  a  passive,  if  not  an  indif 
ferent  spectator."  At  meetings  in  many  states  he 
was  nominated  for  the  office.  Letters  and  addresses 
poured  in  upon  him  at  "  Ashland,"  and  he  was  in 
vited  to  visit  all  parts  of  the  Union.  In  September, 
1842,  he  addressed  a  convention  of  Whigs  at  Day 
ton,  O.,  thought  to  number  100,000  people.  He 
moved  from  place  to  place  like  some  Roman  con 
queror.  On  October  1st,  on  his  way  to  Indianapolis, 
he  spoke  at  Richmond,  Ind.,  a  region  which  con 
tained  a  number  of  Quaker  families,  actively  inter 
ested  in  Abolition.  A  Friend  named  Mendenhall 
came  forward  at  this  place  to  interrogate  Mr.  Clay 


304  HEXRY  CLAY 

on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  to  ask  him  to  liberate 
his  own  blacks.  This  device  was  plainly  intended, 
many  thought,  to  embarrass  the  candidate  ;  at  auy 
rate,  it  very  certainly  had  this  effect.  In  the  first 
place,  the  incident  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
Clay  was  a  slaveholder.  And  after  that,  if  he 
should  avow  a  wish  to  emancipate  his  slaves,  he 
would  probably — in  the  state  of  public  opinion  at 
the  time — be  set  upon  by  the  South  ;  while  if  he  re 
fused,  he  would  do  further  affront  to  the  Abolition 
ists  of  the  North. 

He  attacked  the  question  boldly  as  was  his  wont. 
The  Quaker  ran  the  risk  of  harsh  treatment  at  the 
hands  of  the  crowd,  but  the  speaker  pleaded  for  his 
security.  Clay  made  it  clear  that  to  present  a  pe 
tition  at  all  was  unusual  procedure,  arid  that  to  pre 
sent  it  while  he  was  on  a  friendly  visit  to  a  neigh 
boring  state  must  seem  inhospitable.  However,  he 
desired  "no  concealment"  of  his  opinions.  UI 
look  upon  it  [slavery]  as  a  great  evil,"  he  con 
tinued,  "  and  deeply  lament  that  we  have  derived 
it  from  the  parental  government,  and  from  our  an 
cestors.  I  wish  every  slave  in  the  United  States 
was  in  the  country  of  his  ancestors." 

If  fee  were  organizing  society  anew,  there  could 
be  no  slavery  in  it,  but  that  was  not  the  question 
now.  It  was  here  and  we  must  reckon  with  it,  and, 
•jreat  as  he  thought  its  evils  to  be,  "  they  are  noth 
ing,"  he  declared,  "  absolutely  nothing  in  compari 
son  with  the  far  greater  evils  which  would  inevi 
tably  flow  from  a  sudden,  general,  and  indiscrimi 
nate  emancipation."  He  spoke  again  of  the  danger 
of  race  wars,  and  then  tpld  of  the  difficulties  that 


SLAVERY  AXD  ANTI-SLAVERY        305 

would  confront  him,  were  he  to  decide  to  liberate 
his  own  slaves.  A  half  dozen  of  them  were  "a 
heavy  charge  ''  upon  him  by  reason  of  their  age  and 
decrepitude.  To  free  them  would  be  to  consign 
them  to  starvation.  Another  class  would  not  accept 
their  freedom  if  he  should  give  it  to  them.  His 
man  Charles  who  accompanied  him  then,  and  who 
had  done  so  on  former  journeys  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  had  had  a  thousand  opportunities  to 
escape  but  he  had  no  desire  to  do  so.  Indeed,  when 
some  Abolitionists  had  approached  him  on  the 
point,  he  had  said  that  he  would  not  leave  Mr.  Clay 
for  all  Canada.  "Excuse  me,  Mr.  Mendeuhall," 
Mr.  Clay  continued,  "  for  saying  that  my  slaves  are 
as  well  fed  and  clad,  look  as  sleek  and  hearty,  and 
are  quite  as  civil  and  respectful  in  their  demeanor, 
and  as  little  disposed  to  wound  the  feelings  of  any 
one,  as  you  are.'1  He  owned  about  fifty  slaves, 
worth,  probably,  $15,000.  "To  turn  them  loose 
upon  society  without  any  means  of  subsistence  or 
support,"  he  continued,  "would  be  an  act  of 
cruelty."  He  respected  the  motives  of  Abolition 
ists,  who  were  rational  in  the  formation  and  expres 
sion  of  their  views,  although  he  wished  they  would 
refrain  from  agitating  the  question.  He  had  many 
friends  among  them,  but  they  were  not  "mono 
maniacs,"  such  as  those  seemed  to  be  who  had 
joined  their  names  to  Mr.  Meudenhall's  upon  the 
petition. 

The  speech  was  received  by  the  crowd  as  a  master 
piece,  and  was  published  everywhere  with  acclama 
tion.  It  seemed  to  render  Clay's  position  secure  in 
the  view  of  his  friends  and  the  way  to  the  presi- 


306  HENEY  CLAY 

dency  opened  clear  before  him,  especially  as  Tyler 
continued  to  antagonize  the  Whig  party,  soon  mak 
ing  the  breach  irreparable.  Congress,  after  Clay 
had  left  it,  wrestled  with  the  tariff  and  the  land  sale 
distribution  scheme,  which  were  combined.  The 
President  twice  vetoed  the  measure.  The  session 
seemed  likely  to  close  without  any  provision  being 
made  for  raising  the  revenues  necessary  for  the  reg 
ular  conduct  of  the  government;  but  finally  after 
great  party  asperity,  the  majority  agreed  to  drop 
the  distribution  scheme,  which  was  the  especial  ob 
ject  of  Tyler's  ire,  and  to  adopt  a  protective  tariff, 
known  as  the  Tariff  of  1842. 

In  the  House  John  Quincy  Adams  was  making 
his  historic  contest  for  the  right  of  petition  against 
slavery,  which  Clay  thoroughly  approved,  though 
he  " deeply  regretted"  it  in  some  particulars.1 

When  Giddiugs  resigned  his  seat  because  the 
House  condemned  him  for  presenting  an  anti-slavery 
petition,  and  went  home  to  Ohio,  only  to  be  returned 
by  greater  majorities,  Clay  gave  him  his  warmest 
sympathy.  Such  proscription  he  could  never  be 
brought  to  favor,  and,  though  he  was  not  to  be  the 
champion  of  such  a  cause,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  his  heart  was  not  at  all  times  right  in  reference 
to  this  subject. 

Slavery  had  come  before  the  nation  in  many  ways 
in  the  past  few  years,  but  it  was  to  be  heard  from  in 
a  still  more  ominous  tone  in  the  Texan  contest,  now 
impending.  Clay  had  a  record  on  this  question. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1820,  while  he  was  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  attacked 

1  Speech  at  Lexington  upon  his  return  home  in  1842. 


SLAVERY  AXD  ANTI-SLAVEKY        307 

the  administration  of  President  Monroe  for  having 
surrendered  the  right  to  this  country  in  the  Florida 
Treaty.  It  was  his  contention  that  it  had  been  in 
cluded  in  the  territory  acquired  from  France  by  the 
Louisiana  Purchase.  In  1827,  while  he  was  Secre 
tary  of  State  under  Adams,  he  instructed  Poiusett, 
the  first  United  States  Minister  to  the  new  republic 
of  Mexico,  to  arrange  to  buy  Texas  front  that  coun 
try.  The  region,  in  the  next  few  years,  became  the 
scene  of  much  lawless  adventure,  to  which  the 
Southern  slaveholders  of  the  United  States  contrib 
uted  a  great  deal,  with  a  view  to  increasing  their 
influence  by  its  annexation.  Further  attempts 
were  made  to  obtain  the  country  by  purchase,  but 
these  failing,  the  people,  aided  by  American  fili 
busters,  undertook  to  break  away  from  Mexican 
suzerainty,  and  establish  a  separate  government  in 
the  hope  of  joining  the  Union  in  that  way.  A  state 
of  war  existed  for  a  long  time  between  Mexico  and 
the  Texan  "  patriots,"  and  the  government  of  the 
United  States  was  asked,  of  course,  to  recognize 
their  independence. 

Clay,  though  he  had  on  many  occasions  proven 
himself  the  friend  of  struggling  republics,  had 
gained  much  in  experience  on  this  subject,  and  he 
inwardly  revolted,  as  well  he  might,  at  the  spec 
tacle  in  Texas.  He  aimed  to  restrain  the  govern 
ment  from  a  precipitate  course,  both  by  speech  and 
act.  Fu  1837  the  Texans  offered  themselves  for  sale 
to  Van  Buren  but  he  declined  their  advances. 
ISTorthern  legislatures  adopted  resolutions  protesting 
against  such  a  policy,  and  it  was  seen  to  be  a  contest 
between  slavery  and  anti-slavery,  likely  at  any  ino- 


308  HEXRY  CLAY 

ment  to  assume  the  most  dangerous  appearance. 
Tyler  took  up  the  cause  of  Texas  and  the  South,  but 
Webster  still  had  a  place  in  the  cabinet,  and  op 
posed  the  step. 

The  result  of  the  elections  in  the  autumn  of  1842, 
so  unfavorable  to  the  Whigs,  gave  new  zeal  to  the 
President,  who  now  thought  that  his  future  fortune 
lay,  perhaps,  in  the  direction  of  the  Democracy,  and 
the  way  was  clear  when  Webster,  no  longer  able 
to  continue  in  such  company,  left  the  State  Depart 
ment  in  May,  1843.  Upshur,  of  Virginia,  who  be 
came  Secretary  of  State,  ardently  espoused  the  cause 
of  Texas  and  the  Southern  slaveholders,  who  had 
pushed  into  the  country  to  control  its  destinies. 
The  work  went  forward  stealthily.  The  Senate  was 
canvassed  with  a  view  to  getting  enough  members 
to  approve  a  treaty  of  annexation.  Mexico  pro 
tested  and  threatened  war,  but  this  did  not  avail  to 
deter  the  administration.  When  Upshur  was  killed, 
by  the  explosion  of  a  gun,  on  the  United  States 
frigate  Princeton,  Tyler  threw  himself  entirely  into 
the  arms  of  the  enemy,  and  invited  Calhouu  to  be 
come  Secretary  of  State,  an  office  which  he  accepted, 
singular  as  the  relation  must  have  seemed  to  him, 
with  the  ostensible  purpose  of  carrying  through  this 
extraordinary  plot  for  expanding  the  area  of  slavery. 

Meanwhile  Clay  continued  to  travel  and  address 
his  countrymen.  When  he  came  home  from  his 
autumn  tour  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  in  1842,  he  planned 
a  trip  to  New  Orleans  which  was  accomplished  in 
the  winter,  and  which  included  a  large  number  of 
cities  and  towns,  where  he  met  with  the  usual  marks 
of  attention  and  enthusiasm.  Great  crowds  as- 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        309 

sembled  to  welcome  him  everywhere.  The  summer 
of  1843  was  devoted  to  rest  and  recuperation  at 
"Ashlaiid."  In  the  ensuing  winter  he  left  home 
for  a  trip  through  the  southeastern  states,  going 
from  New  Orleans  to  Augusta,  Charleston,  Raleigh 
and  intermediate  places,  where  his  followers  crowded 
to  greet  and  acclaim  him.  He  seemed  to  be  the 
hero  of  the  age.  He  still  spoke  on  the  old  Whig 
issues,  unwilling  to  believe  that  any  other  called  for 
public  attention,  though  the  Texas  question,  with 
slavery  behind  it,  pressed  insistently  for  recognition. 
It  was  generally  expected  that  Van  Buren,  who 
had  visited  Clay  at  "  Ashland,"  would  be  the  op 
posing  candidate  in  the  ensuing  campaign.  Tyler, 
in  spite  of  his  open  bid  for  the  distinction,  had 
made  no  progress  in  winning  the  popular  esteem. 
Clay  and  Van  Bureu  together  agreed  that  they 
would  aim  to  avoid  any  declaration  on  the  subject 
of  Texas.  If  it  were  necessary,  however,  they 
would  make  a  statement  in  disapproval  of  annexa 
tion.  Clay  was  in  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  swinging  around 
through  states  which  seemed  to  need  the  invigora- 
tion  of  his  presence,  when  Calhoun  and  the  Texan 
envoys,  on  April  12,  1844,  signed  the  treaty  by 
which  Texas  was  to  be  joined  to  the  United  States. 
He  could  restrain  himself  no  longer  and  on  April 
17th,  the  National  Intelligencer  in  Washington  pub 
lished  what  at  once  came  to  be  known  as  his 
"Raleigh  Letter. "  He  reviewed  his  own  connec 
tion  with  the  Texas  matter.  The  country  was  now 
gone  from  us.  The  recent  recognitttm  of  the  inde 
pendence  of  Texas  by  the  United  States  had  not  im 
paired  Mexico's  claims,  if  she  chose  to  continue  to 


310  HENP.Y  CLAY 

assert  them,  and  there  was  evidence  that  she  did. 
By  acquiring  the  territory,  we  would  at  once  acquire 
a  foreign  war.  As  for  him  he  would  not  favor  an 
nexation  at  any  such  price.  Moreover,  the  move 
ment  met  with  disapproval  in  many  states,  and  the 
need  was  for  harmony,  not  for  new  causes  of 
discord  and  strife.  It  were  vain  to  attempt  to 
strengthen  the  South  in  this  way.  The  North  could 
retaliate  by  annexing  Canada. 

Sane  as  the  views  expressed  in  it  seemed  to  be, 
the  letter  naturally  met  the  favor  of  the  extremists 
in  neither  section  of  the  Union.  The  course  of  the 
11  pacificator"  was  becoming  more  and  more  diffi 
cult  to  pursue.  Doubtless,  however,  the  bulk  of 
the  Whig  party  believed  the  manifesto  to  be  a  cor 
rect  expression  of  their  views.  Van  Buren  pub 
lished  a  letter  in  the  Globe  opposing  annexation  on 
not  very  different  grounds.  Those  who  urged  it, 
however,  had  fortified  themselves  with  letters  from 
Andrew  Jackson,  whose  voice  still  had  the  tone  of 
command.  Thus  the  matter  stood,  when  the  Whig 
National  Convention  met  in  Baltimore  on  May  1st. 
The  treaty  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate  awaiting 
a  two-thirds  vote.  All  the  Whig  leaders  were 
gathered  together  for  this  great  meeting ;  they 
nominated  Clay  with  shouts  that  shook  the  build 
ing,  and  indeed  started  a  panic  lest  it  should 
fall  to  the  ground.  As  the  candidate  for  Vice- 
Presideut,  they  chose  Theodore  Freliughuysen,  of 
New  Jersey.  Webster  had  now  returned  to  the 
party  fold  and  added  his  voice  to  the  general  chorus 
of  enthusiasm  and  praise. 

Three  weeks  later  the  Democrats  met,  also  in 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        311 

Baltimore.  The  party  was  now  completely  in  the 
hands  of  Calhouu  and  his  friends.  Van  Buren  after 
a  few  ballots  was  set  aside  in  favor  of  James  K.  Polk 
of  Tennessee,  a  rabid  annexationist,  to  whose  name 
was  added,  for  Vice-President,  that  of  George  M. 
Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  order  to  give  power  to 
the  ticket  in  the  Middle  states.  The  annexation  of 
Texas  was  joined  with  a  demand  for  the  reoccupa- 
tion  of  Oregon,  and  plans  were  shrewdly  laid  for  a 
campaign  founded  on  an  expansionist  programme, 
designed  to  gain  great  popularity.  Tyler  assembled 
his  "corporal's  guard"  of  office-holders,  and  was 
duly  nominated  to  succeed  himself,  but  before  long, 
as  he  saw,  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  do  except  to 
withdraw  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  candidate. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  campaign,  conducted 
with  great  spirit  and  energy,  and  marked  by  the 
same  enthusiasm  with  whiclifch^  people  had  been 
inspired  four  years  befofiLt^Harrison  was  almost 
deified  as  a  translated  leader  whose  mantle  had  been 
taken  up  only  to  be  trampled  in  the  dust  by  Tyler, 
of  whom  there  was  nothing  good  to  be  said.  The 
raccoon  was  revived  as  a  party  emblem,  and  every 
effort  was  made  to  connect  this  presidential  contest 
with  the  last,  in  the  hope  of  sweeping  the  country 
in  the  same  conclusive  manner. 

"  Both  parties  entered  the  field  well  organized  and  animated 
with  high  hopes.  The  recollection  of  their  success  in  1840  in 
spired  the  Whigs  with  courage,  while  a  bitter  resentment  for 
what  they  deemed  the  treachery  of  Mr.  Tyler  which  had 
snatched  from  them  the  fruits  of  their  victory  at  the  last  presi 
dential  election,  and  their  ardent  attachment  to  their  chivalric 
and  gallant  leader,  kindled  a  zeal  which  spread  through  all 
ranks  of  the  party  and  which  approached  almost  to  fanaticism." 
— Life  and  Times  of  Silas  Wright,  by  Jabez  Hammond,  p.  496. 


312  HENRY  CLAY 

Everywhere  was  seen  the  Clay  Minstrel,  a  book  of 
campaign  songs  written  for  such  airs  as  ''The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  "John  Anderson,  My  Jo," 
"Ole  Dan  Tucker,"  "Rosin  the  Bow,"  and  "Royal 
Charlie."  For  example,  there  was  a  working-man's 
song,  in  which  no  trade  seems  to  have  been  for 
gotten,  to  the  tune  of  "  There's  Nae  Luck  About  the 
House."  These  were  some  of  the  stanzas  : 

"  The  Laboring  Men  that  want  more  work, 

And  higher  wages  too, 
Will  help  to  put  in  Heury  Clay 

With  better  times  in  view. 
They'll  saw  and  chop,  and  grub  and  dig, 

And  shovel,  and  shovel  away, 
And  shovel,  shovel,  shovel,  shovel, 

And  vote  for  Henry  Clay  ! 

"  We  want  no  clothing  ready  made 

From  England,  or  from  France, 
We've  Tailors  here  who  know  their  trade 

They  ought  to  have  a  chance. 
They'll  cut,  and  baste,  and  hem  and  press 

And  stitch,  and  stitch  away, 
And  stitch,  stitch,  stitch,  stitch, 

And  vote  for  Henry  Clay  ! 

"  The  Coopers  know  when  Farmers  thrive 

Their  trade  is  always  best, 
And  so  they'll  go  with  one  accord 

For  Harry  of  the  West. 
They'll  dress  and  raise,  and  truss  and  croze, 

And  hoop,  and  hoop  away 
And  hoop,  hoop,  hoop,  hoop, 

And  vote  for  Henry  Clay  !  " 

To  "Auld  Lang  Syne"  the  Whigs  sang  these 
lines  ; 


SLAVERY  A:NTD  ANTI-SLAVERY      313 

4 '  Leave  vain  regrets  for  errors  past 

Nor  cast  the  ship  away, 
But  nail  your  colors  to  the  mast 

And  strike  for  Harry  Clay. 
And  strike  for  Harry  Clay,  my  boys, 

And  strike  for  Harry  Clay, 
And  nail  your  colors  to  the  mast 

And  strike  for  Harry  Clay  !  " 

There  were  many  campaign  songs  to  the  tune  of 
"  Ole  Dan  Tucker."  One  began  : 

"  The  moon  was  shining  silver  bright, 
The  stars  with  glory  crowned  the  night, 
High  on  a  limb  that  '  same  ole  coon  ' 
"Was  singing  to  himself  this  tune  — 

CHOBUS : 

"  Get  out  of  the  way,  you're  all  unlucky, 
Clear  the  track  for  Old  Kentucky." 

But  many  unusual  events  occurred,  again  tending 
to  show  that  some  malign  fate,  altogether  beyond 
human  reach,  was  at  work  to  prevent  Henry  Clay 
from  attaining  the  presidency.  In  the  first  place, 
there  was  the  singular  fatality  of  being  bound  up 
with  an  expansionist  issue  to  which  he  was  or  seemed 
to  be  opposed.  Then  there  was  the  Liberty  party 
which  had  nominated  James  G.  Birney,  a  mere  fleck 
on  the  sky,  but  full  of  ominous  threat  under  the 
direction  of  devoted  men  determined  to  give  their 
support  to  no  candidate  who  did  not  favor  the  un 
conditional  emancipation  of  the  slaves.  Then,  too, 
an  extraordinary  fraud  was  practiced  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  where  it  was  made  to  appear  that  the  Demo 
cratic  rather  than  the  Whig  party  was  the  safeguard 


314  HENKY  CLAY 

of  protection.  A  governor  was  to  be  elected  there 
in  October.  It  was  felt  that  as  Pennsylvania  wenl 
the  nation  would  go,  and  the  state  became  abitterl} 
contested  battle-ground. 

Though  Polk  was  a  free-trader,  few  knew  this,  01 
indeed  very  much  else  regarding  him.1  During 
the  campaign  it  was  a  familiar  Whig  device  to 
ask,  "  Who  is  Polk?"  a  question  which  was  al 
ways  answered  by  a  loud  guffaw.  Dallas  had 
been  nominated  for  the  express  purpose  of  forward 
ing  a  deception  on  the  tariff  issue  in  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Eastern  states.  "Polk,  Dallas,  and  tin- 
Tariff  of  1842,"  a  measure  which  had  gained  the 
approval  of  the  manufacturers,  was  a  combination 
of  words  appearing  everywhere  in  popular  speech, 
in  the  newspapers  and  on  banners  and  transparen 
cies  carried  in  processions.  These  dexterous 
campaigners  sometimes  added  the  words  :  "  We 
dare  the  Whigs  to  repeal  it."  It  speaks  not  well 
for  the  intelligence  of  the  people  of  Pennsylvania 
that  a  considerable  number  of  them  should  have 
abandoned  Clay,  the  very  prototype  of  the  "Ameri 
can  system,"  in  favor  of  a  party  which  had  always 
opposed  protection,  and  which  in  1846  actually  did 
repeal  the  law  whereby,  through  their  cries  in  that 
state,  they  had  elected  Polk  two  years  before.  The 
Democratic  candidate  for  governor,  Shuuk,  was 
elected  in  October  by  a  majority  of  4,397  and  the 

1  ''  He  was  a  comparatively  unknown  man,  although  he  had 
served  as  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  there 
fore  excited  no  antagonism." — A  History  of  Presidential  Elections 
by  Edward  Stan  wood,  p.  157. 

Governor  Letch er  of  Kentucky  wrote  to  Mr.  Buchanan  : 
"  Polk  !  Great  God,  what  a  nomination  !  " 


SLAVEEY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        315 

morale  of  the  Whig  party  throughout  the  country 
was  broken  for  the  national  contest  to  follow  in 
November. 

Then,  too,  there  must  be  a  revival  of  the  bargain 
and  sale  story.  Jackson  was  dying  at  the  "Her 
mitage,"  but  he  raised  himself  to  repeat  this  foul 
slander  that  it  might  again  do  service,  if  it  would, 
in  the  campaign  of  1844.  Clay  and  his  friends 
evidently  thought  that  it  still  contained  dangers  for 
them,  and  they  again  bent  themselves  to  the  task  of 
refuting  it. 

The  progress  of  the  Texas  question  was  such  that 
it  injected  itself  into  the  campaign  to  the  exclusion 
of  almost  every  other  issue  in  the  South  as  well  as  in 
those  Northern  states  in  which  the  Abolitionist  ele 
ment  had  strength.  On  June  8th,  the  Senate  by  a 
vote  of  thirty -five  to  sixteen  refused  its  assent  to  the 
treaty  of  annexation,  and  a  little  later  adjourned, 
leaving  Tyler,  if  he  could,  to  find  some  other  way  of 
effecting  his  object. 

As  the  campaign  progressed,  Clay's  friends, 
especially  in  the  South,  grew  anxious  for  his  fate, 
and  he  was,  wisely  or  unwisely,  induced  to  qualify 
the  statements  which  he  had  pronounced  in  the 
"Raleigh  Letter."  He  did  this  in  correspondence 
with  Stephen  F.  Miller  of  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.  Some 
had  said  that  when  he  had  spoken  of  opposition  to 
annexation  in  the  North,  which  he  wished  the 
nation  to  heed,  it  was  an  allusion  to  the  Abolition 
ists.  This  Clay  emphatically  denied.  It  was  "  per 
fectly  absurd."  u  No  man  in  the  United  States  has 
been  half  as  much  abused  by  them  [the  Abolition 
ists]  as  I  have  been."  He  added  :  "Personally  I 


316  HENRY  CLAY 

could  have  no  objection  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  ; 
but  I  certainly  should  be  unwilling  to  see  the  exist 
ing  Union  dissolved,  or  seriously  jeoparded,  for  the 
sake  of  acquiring  Texas.  If  any  one  desires  to 
know  the  leading  and  paramount  object  of  my 
public  life,  the  preservation  of  the  Union  will  fur 
nish  him  the  key." 

In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Miller  he  went  on  to  say  : 
"Far  from  having  any  personal  objection  to  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  it  without 
dishonor,  without  war,  and  upon  just  and  fair  terms. 
I  do  not  think  that  the  subject  of  slavery  ought  to 
affect  the  question  one  way  or  the  other.'' 

He  had  never  said  that  it  should,  but  the  Liberty 
party  men,  most  of  whom  had  been  Whigs,  and  felt 
that  they  had  a  greater  right  to  be  his  judges  on  this 
account,  aimed  now  to  prevent  his  election  by  any 
means  in  their  power. 

It  was  a  difficult  matter  for  Clay  to  explain  his 
"Alabama  Letters"  in  the  North,  though  he  es 
sayed  the  feat,  He  was  subjected  to  the  charge  of 
inconsistency  by  such  leaders  as  Giddings  of  Ohio, 
to  whom  he  wrote  several  "private  and  confiden 
tial  "  epistles,  explanatory  of  the  statements  he  had 
made  to  his  friend  in  Tuscaloosa,  He  was  sorry,  he 
said,  writing  from  "Ashland,"  on  September  11, 
1844,  to  know  that  there  was  any  misunderstanding 
in  Ohio.  "  It  was  not  my  intention,"  he  continued, 
"  to  vary  the  ground  in  the  smallest  degree  which  I 
had  assumed  in  my  Raleigh  letter.  It  had  been  rep 
resented  to  me  that  in  that  letter  I  had  displayed  a 
determined  opposition  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  to 
the  United  States,  although  the  whole  Union  might 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        317 

be  in  favor  of  it,  and  it  could  be  peacefully  and 
honorably  effected  upon  fair  and  j  ust  terms.  It  was 
my  purpose  in  those  Alabama  letters  to  say  that  no 
personal  or  private  motives  prompted  me  to  oppose 
annexation,  but  that  my  opinion  in  opposition  to  it 
was  founded  solely  upon  public  and  general  con 
siderations.  I,  therefore,  said  that  if  by  common 
consent  of  the  Union,  without  national  dishonor, 
and  without  war,  and  upon  just  conditions,  the  ob 
ject  of  annexation  could  be  accomplished,  I  did  not 
wish  to  be  considered  as  standing  in  opposition  to 
the  wishes  of  the  whole  confederacy,  but,  on  the  sup 
position  stated,  would  be  glad  to  see  those  wishes 
gratified.  Could  I  say  less  f " 

If  three  such  states  as  Ohio,  Massachusetts  and  Ver 
mont  u  were  to  manifest  a  decided  opposition  to  the 
annexation  of  Texas,"  he  said  positively,  "  it  ought 
not  to  be  annexed  to  the  United  States. ' '  He  was  in 
a  singular  position,  he  wrote  to  Giddings.  "Whilst 
at  the  South  I  am  represented  as  a  liberty  man,  at 
the  North  I  am  described  as  an  ultra  supporter  of 
slavery,  when  in  fact  I  am  neither  one  nor  the 
other."  l 

While  the  entire  vote  for  Birney  was  small,  the 
activity  of  the  party  was  undoubtedly  effective  in 
chilling  the  anti-slavery  Whigs  in  Ohio  as  well  as 
in  New  York,  where  the  margin  was  very  close.  It 
was  at  any  rate  a  pleasure  for  the  Abolitionists  to 
assert  that  but  for  them  he  would  have  been  elected, 
though  the  declaration  could  have  been  made  quite 
as  positively  by  other  interests  engaged  in  the  work 

1  Giddings  letters  published  in  the  Cleveland  Herald  in 
February,  1879. 


318  HENRY  CLAY 

of  defeating  the  hopes  of  his  party  in  this  remark 
able  campaign.  In  Pennsylvania,  if  there  had  been 
no  defection  of  the  protectionists,  Clay  would  have 
fared  much  better.  Having  that  state,  and  with 
the  help  of  Georgia,  where  the  vote  was  also  very 
close,  he  would  have  been  elected.  Without  the 
"Alabama  Letters,"  which  were  thought  to  have 
done  him  harm  in  the  North,  he  very  possibly 
would  have  carried  a  smaller  number  of  the  South 
ern  states.  It  seemed  impossible  to  believe  that  a 
leader  like  Clay,  known  of  all  men  and  deeply  be 
loved  as  he  was  by  so  many  of  them,  could  have 
been  defeated  by  such  an  opponent  as  Polk.  But 
so  it  was  to  be.  The  Whigs  waited  day  after  day, 
always  with  hope  and  a  conviction  that  fuller 
returns  would  put  a  different  aspect  upon  affairs. 
Even  for  the  Democrats  it  was  a  victory  over  which 
they  did  not  feel  able  to  exult,  so  small  were  the 
majorities,  and  so  doubtful  did  they  appear  to  be  of 
the  justice  of  the  result.  Clay  had  carried  Massa 
chusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Vermont,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee  and  Ohio — in  all  he  had  105  elec 
toral  votes.  Polk  had  carried  Maine,  New  Hamp 
shire,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Alabama,  Missouri,  Arkansas  and  Mich 
igan, — in  all  170  votes.  Several  of  these  states  were 
won  by  small  pluralities  : 

New  York 5,106 

Pennsylvania 6,332 

Virginia      ; 5,873 

Georgia 1,944 


SLAVERY  AND  ANTI-SLAVERY        319 

Indiana 2,344 

Louisiana 699 

Michigan 3,466 

There  were  charges  of  fraud  in  at  least  four  of 
them,  and  honest  and  searching  investigation  might 
have  changed  the  verdict  in  Clay's  favor.  It  is 
credibly  reported  that  places  of  business  were  closed 
or  deserted,  while  the  astounding  news  was  dis- 
cussejl  in  subdued  and  funereal  tones,  and  that  men 
and  women  wept.  Such  disappointment  and  grief 
were  never  seen  after  any  election  in  this  country. 
Clay's  friends  entirely  despaired  of  the  republic. 
Their  last  hope  for  it  was  fled.  He  seemed 

"  A  great  man  struggling  with  the  storms  of  fate, 
And  nobly  falling  with  a  falling  state." 

Letters  poured  in  upon  him  from  entire  strangers 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  offering  him  their  sym 
pathy  and  assuring  him  of  their  continued  love  and 
esteem.  A  Pennsylvanian  did  not  hesitate  to  de 
clare  that  Mr.  Clay  had  "  nine- tenths  of  the  virtue, 
intelligence  and  respectability  of  the  nation  on  his 
side."  Millard  Fillmore  was  ''unmanned."  He 
had  "  no  courage  or  resolution."  "  All  is  gone," 
he  wrote.  * '  The  last  hope  which  hung  first  upon 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  then  upon  Virginia  is 
finally  dissipated,  and  I  see  nothing  but  despair  de 
picted  on  every  countenance."  * 

To  Senator  Preston  of  South  Carolina  the  result 
was  a  "  public  calamity." 

There  were  prayers  for  the  country  which  had 
been  so  basely  betrayed.  One  wrote:  "I  have 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  479. 


320  HENRY  CLAY 

buried  a  Revolutionary  father  who  poured  out  his 
blood  for  his  country  ;  I  have  followed  a  mother, 
brothers,  sisters  and  children  to  the  grave ;  and, 
although  I  hope  I  have  felt  under  all  these  afflic 
tions,  as  a  son,  a  brother  and  a  father  should  feel, 
yet  nothing  has  so  crushed  me  to  the  earth  and  de 
pressed  my  spirits  as  the  result  of  our  late  political 
contest. " 

The  grief,  said  another,  "  extended  itself  through 
all  ages,  sexes  and  conditions  from  lisping  infancy 
to  hoary  age." 

"  Great  God  !  is  it  possible,"  exclaimed  a  friend 
in  London,  when  the  news  came  to  him.  "The 
hopes  of  the  wise  and  of  the  worthy  of  the  new  and 
of  the  old  world  rested  upon  you." 

An  old  sea-captain  in  Providence  was  heard  to 
say:  "Could  my  life  insure  the  success  of  Henry 
Clay,  I  would  freely  lay  it  down  this  day." 

A  lady  in  Maryland  sent  him  a  counterpane  with 
complimentary  lines  embroidered  upon  it.  It  was 
the  work  of  her  own  hands  in  the  ninety-third  year 
of  her  age.  The  women  of  Virginia  set  themselves 
to  the  task  of  raising  money  for  the  erection  of  a 
statue  of  the  great  leader,  and  employed  Joel  T. 
Hart  to  execute  it.  The  gold  and  silver  artisans  of 
New  York  sent  him  a  splendid  silver  vase,  and  the 
representatives  of  many  industries  which  he  had 
aided  by  his  advocacy  of  the  protective  system 
during  his  long  congressional  career,  united  to 
honor  and  befriend  him.  Whig  party  organiza 
tions  met  and  adopted  resolutions  which  were  duly 
forwarded  to  "Ashland,"  some  beautifully  en 
grossed  and  some  in  silver  caskets.  In  short,  every 


SLAVEEY  AND  ANTI- SLA  VERY        321 

possible  testimony  of  continued  popular  devotion 
came  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  defeat.  A  gold  pen 
was  sent  from  New  York,  and  a  casket  of  jewels  for 
Mrs.  Clay  from  Philadelphia,  with  a  book  containing 
several  thousand  names  of  both  sexes,  young  and 
old,  handsomely  printed  and  bound  by  a  publishing 
house  in  that  city,  entitled,  "A  Testimonial  of 
Gratitude  and  Affection  to  Henry  Clay."  It  was 
probably  true,  as  one  correspondent  remarked,  that 
Clay  had  u  long  since  passed  that  point  when  office 
could  confer  additional  celebrity,  or  add  one  inch 
to  the  noble  preeminence  which  history  will  assign 
to  you." 

He  himself  was  more  bitterly  disappointed  than 
any  but  the  members  of  his  family  and  his  closest 
friends  could  know.  It  is  stated  that  on  the  night 
the  news  of  his  defeat  reached  "Ashland,"  Mrs. 
Clay  took  him  in  her  arms  and  said  as  they  wept 
together  :  "  My  husband,  this  ungrateful  people 
can  never  truly  appreciate  you  while  living.  Thank 
God,  they  have  left  you  in  the  bosom  of  your  family, 
in  this  your  dear  'Ashland.'  '  Such  a  victory,  be 
lieving  as  Mr.  Clay  did,  was  to  him,  as  it  was  to 
John  Quincy  Adams,  ' l  a  dark  shade ' '  cast  upon 
the  nation's  " prospects  of  futurity."  "I  had 
hoped,"  wrote  Adams,  "  that  under  your  guidance 
the  country  would  have  recovered  from  the  down 
ward  tendency  into  which  it  has  been  sinking."  ! 
It  was  not  in  any  spirit  of  personal  vainglory,  there 
fore,  that  Clay  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "The  late  blow 
that  has  fallen  upon  our  country  is  very  heavy.  I 
hope  that  she  may  recover  from  it,  but  I  confess 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  520. 


322  HENKY  CLAY 

that  the  prospect  ahead  is  dark  and  discouraging 
I  am  afraid  that  it  will  be  yet  a  long  time,  if  ever, 
that  the  people  recover  from  the  corrupting  in 
fluence  and  effects  of  Jacksonism.     I'  pray  God  to 
give  them  a  happy  deliverance." 

In  what  ways  he  would  or  could  have  changed  tho 
course  of  the  nation  by  coming  to  the  President's 
office  in  1844,  and  whether  or  not  the  experience 
would  have  improved  his  place  in  history,  are  ques 
tions  which  may  be  discussed  but  cannot  be  cei- 
tainly  determined  by  any  amount  of  debate. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   LAST   GREAT   COMPROMISE 

THIS  extraordinary  outburst  of  popular  love  was 
not  soou  to  consume  itself  by  its  own  unusual  ardor. 
In  no  way  was  Clay  more  sincerely  touched  than  by 
a  movement,  secretly  begun  and  prosecuted,  to  re 
lieve  him  from  pressing  financial  necessities  which 
promised  him  a  disturbed  old  age.  He  had  once 
before  been  the  victim  of  financial  misfortunes,  not 
brought  upon  him  by  acts  of  his  own.  Now  again, 
through  the  reverses  of  a  son  engaged  in  the 
hemp  business  in  Kentucky,  he  was  greatly  em 
barrassed.  His  prolonged  absences  in  Washington 
had  compelled  him  to  neglect  his  private  affairs  and 
a  heavy  mortgage  encumbered  "  Ashland."  The 
large  demands  made  upon  him  led  him  to  wonder 
whether  he  would  not  be  obliged  to  part  with  his 
beloved  and  now  famous  home. 

Suddenly,  through  the  foresight  and  care  of  vigi 
lant  friends  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  relief  came  to 
him.  One  day  in  1845,  when  Mr.  Clay  was  about 
to  make  a  payment  on  a  note,  a  banker  in  Lexing 
ton  informed  him  that  the  money  was  at  hand  to 
extinguish  all  his  debts,  including  the  mortgage  on 
"  Ashland."  "  Who  did  this?"  Clay  asked  with 
deep  emotion.  The  banker  said  that  he  was  not  at 
liberty  to  tell,  if  indeed  he  could  ascertain  the  names 


324  HENRY  CLAY 

of  the  givers  ;  it  was  sufficient  to  know  that  they 
were  not  his  i  i  enemies. ' '  1 

Clay  debated  the  matter  with  his  friends.  He 
was  loath  to  accept  such  a  gift,  especially  as  he 
knew  not  whom  to  thank  for  it,  but  he  determined 
to  take  it  gratefully.  A  friend  in  New  Orleans 
wrote  him:  "In  all  ages  signal  public  services 
have  been  rewarded  by  national  benefactions.  In 
our  own  day  Sieyes  and  Wellington  have  had  grants 
of  domains;  the  debts  of  Pitt  have  been  paid  by 
Parliament ;  Fox  did  not  disdain  the  assistance  of 
his  friends.  Your  memory  will  furnish  innumer 
able  other  instances.  If  republics  are  ungrateful, 
it  is  the  more  necessary  that  private  individuals 
should  perform  the  duty  neglected  by  the  public 
authorities."  2 

Indeed,  there  was  no  other  course  to  pursue.  The 
gift  appeared  as  an  already  discharged  obligation, 
and  that  was  the  end  of  it.  The  sum  subscribed 
seems  to  have  amounted  to  about  $50,000.  The 
movement  was  directed  in  New  Orleans,  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston,  and  with  so 
much  delicacy  and  tact  that  neither  then  nor  since 
has  any  one  revealed  particular  information  con 
cerning  it.  It  was  a  spontaneous  tribute  from  sin 
cere  hearts.8  The  tears  started  into  Clay's  eyes 
whenever  he  thought  of  this  last  mark  of  the  love 
of  his  friends. 

To  the  charge  that  Clay  had  no  hope  to  offer  to 
those  who  were  opposed  to  slavery,  his  response 

1  Col  ton,  Vol.  I,  p.  44. 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  528. 

3  Last  Seven  Yearn,  p.  40. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      325 

was  a  continued  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Coloni 
zation  Society.  He  believed  that  some  of  the  ne 
groes,  at  least,  whenever  they  were  freed,  could  be 
returned  to  Africa.  As  for  the  ultimate  extinction 
of  the  evil,  it  could  come  only  at  some  l  i  distant 
day,"  as  he  had  said  in  one  of  his  "  Alabama  Let 
ters,"  and  no  other  method  presented  itself  to  his 
mind  than  the  inscrutable  and  a  not  very  certain  in 
terposition  of  Providence,  who  had  blessed  the  na 
tion  in  its  past  history,  and  whose  favors  we  must 
pray  Him  to  continue  to  bestow. 

Tyler  found  in  Clay's  defeat  an  endorsement  of 
his  annexation  policy,  and  he  pursued  it  obstinately. 
An  effort  was  now  made  to  accomplish  this  object 
by  joint  resolution.  A  two- thirds  vote  could  not 
be  obtained  in  the  Senate  ;  a  resolution  needed  but 
a  simple  majority  in  both  houses.  On  January  25, 
1845,  this  measure  passed  the  House,  with  an  amend 
ment,  approved  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas  among  oth 
ers,  specifying  that  such  states  as  should  be  formed 
out  of  the  territory  acquired,  if  they  lay  north  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  line,  should  be  free. 

The  senators  still  balked,  thinking  that  their 
body  was  being  deprived  of  a  constitutional  func 
tion  ;  but  they  were  brought  to  favor  the  reso 
lution,  and  Tyler,  trusting  nothing  to  Polk,  hurried 
off  an  envoy  before  his  term  expired.  The  Texas 
Senate,  by  joint  resolution,  approved  the  plan  to 
join  the  United  States,  and  such  determined  and 
high-handed  methods  were  soon  used,  both  by  the 
Texan  government,  and  by  Polk  and  his  advisers, 
that  war  with  Mexico,  as  Clay  had  predicted, 
inevitably  ensued.  The  administration,  having 


326  HBNEY  CLAY 

linked  the  Oregon  with  the  Texas  question,  was 
also  in  a  fair  way  to  involve  the  country  in  a  war 
with  England  in  its  desire  to  obey  the  popular  de 
mand  of  "  Fifty  -four  forty  or  fight."  Fortunately 
this  difficulty  was  disposed  of  in  a  peaceful  manner, 
and  the  country  could  give  its  attention  to  its  war 
with  Mexico. 

It  seemed  an  outrageous  proceeding  to  Clay  and 
to  all  thinking  men,  except  those  who  were  the 
devoted  allies  of  slavery.  During  the  late  winter 
and  spring  of  1846,  he  had  again  gone  to  New 
Orleans,  where  he  was  so  much  valued  and  esteemed. 
Keturuing  in  April  he  stopped,  on  his  way  up  the 
river,  at  St.  Louis.  There,  and  everywhere,  he  was 
a  mark  for  popular  homage.  The  legislature  of 
Kentucky  desired  to  reelect  him  to  the  Senate,  but 
he  declined  on  the  ground  that  he  needed  rest  and 
that  his  public  life  was  done.  The  winter  of  1846- 
1847  was  again  spent  in  New  Orleans.  During  this 
visit  he  was  induced  to  address  a  meeting  called  in 
behalf  of  the  sufferers  from  the  potato  famine  in 
Ireland,  which  he  did  with  much  feeling  and  elo 
quence.  "  Shall  it  [this  appeal  to  the  sympathy  of 
American  hearers]  be  in  vain?"  he  asked.  "Shall 
starving  Ireland — the  young  and  the  old — dying 
women  and  children— stretch  out  their  hands  to  us 
for  bread  and  find  no  relief?  Will  not  this  great 
city,  the  world's  storehouse  of  an  exhaust  less  supply 
of  all  kinds  of  food,  borne  to  its  overflowing  ware 
houses  by  the  Father  of  Waters,  act  on  this  occasion 
in  a  manner  worthy  of  its  high  destiny  and  obey 
the  noble  impulses  of  the  generous  hearts  of  its 
blessed  inhabitants  ?  "  The  speech,  being  generally 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPKOMISE      327 

reported,  awakened  feelings  of  deep  gratitude  in 
Ireland,  as  well  as  elsewhere.  Even  in  this  day 
children  in  Ireland  are  told  of  Henry  Clay  and  his 
noble  efforts  in  behalf  of  their  country  in  that  hour 
of  need. 

With  his  deep  disappointment  as  to  the  course  of 
public  events,  another  crushing  sorrow  came  to  Clay, 
—the  death  of  his  sou,  Lieutenant -Colonel  Henry 
Clay,  at  the  battle  of  Bueua  Vista.  He  had  now  lost 
all  of  his  daughters  and  this  son,  the  third,  was  a 
favorite,  deeply  loved.  He  had  been  educated  at 
West  Point  and  had  later  entered  the  law,  giving 
promise  of  great  ability.  Upon  the  outbreak  of  the 
Mexican  War  he  offered  his  services,  and  became 
the  lieutenant- colonel  of  a  Kentucky  regiment  in 
the  army  of  General  Taylor.  The  old  statesman 
was  in  danger  of  breaking  down  under  this  afflic 
tion  and  in  the  summer,  after  a  sojourn  in 
the  Virginia  mountains,  he  went  to  Cape  May, 
N.  J.  He  wished  to  enjoy  rest  on  the  seacoast  and 
the  sea-baths  in  which  he  had  never  before  had  the 
opportunity  to  indulge. 

Hither  his  friends  followed  him.  A  delegation 
arrived  from  New  York  to  say  : 

"  We  come  in  the  name  of  400,000  persons  to  ask 
you  once  more  to  visit  our  metropolis.  Permit  ns,  we 
pray  you,  sir,  to  announce  to  our  friends,  with  the 
speed  of  lightning,  that  Henry  Clay  will  come  to 
them.  The  great  aggregate  heart  of  our  city  is 
throbbing  to  bid  you  welcome,  thrice  welcome,  to 
its  hospitalities. " 

Others  invited  him  to  Philadelphia,  New  Haven 
and  Trenton.  He  addressed  them  in  a  speech,  tell- 


328  HENRY  CLAY 

ing  them  the  reason  tor  his  journey.  He  spoke 
with  deep  emotion  of  the  death  of  his  son,  once 
covering  his  face  with  his  hands  for  some  minutes, 
until  he  could  recover  himself.  It  was  his  wish  to 
dispose  completely  of  the  thought  that  he  had  any 
political  object  in  view,  for  there  were  already 
loud  demands  that  in  1848  he  should  again  be  the 
presidential  candidate  of  the  Whig  party.  He  was 
deeply  touched  "that  I  a  private,  and  humble 
citizen,  without  an  army,  without  a  navy,  without 
even  a  constable's  staff,  should  have  been  met  at 
every  step  of  my  progress  with  the  kindest  manifes 
tations  of  feeling, — manifestations  of  which  at  pres 
ent  a  monarch  or  an  emperor  might  well  be  proud.'' 
He  begged  his  visitors  from  the  various  cities  to  re 
trace  their  steps,  '  *  charged  and  surcharged  with  my 
warmest  feelings  of  gratitude." 

The  Whigs  were  not  skilfully  led  in  Congress, 
and  they  had  an  unpopular  cause  in  opposition  to 
the  extension  of  the  national  domain,  but  they  won 
an  important  victory  in  the  elections  of  1846.  They 
converted  a  large  Democratic  into  a  small  Whig 
majority  in  the  House,  and  the  party  felt  itself 
materially  invigorated.  The  war  proceeded  so 
easily  and  triumphantly  that  Mexico  was  soon  com 
pletely  at  our  mercy,  and  many  of  the  slaveholders, 
by  whom  the  contest  had  been  begun  and  for  whose 
advantage  it  had  been  waged,  thought  seriously  of 
annexing  not  only  Texas  but  Mexico  itself.  Clay 
was  called  upon  from  all  sides  for  his  advice.  On 
November  13,  1847,  with  General  Scott  standing  in 
Mexico  City,  the  old  statesman  addressed  an  im 
mense  assembly  which  had  gathered  in  Lexington 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE       329 

to  hear  him.  The  war  was  aii  "unnatural  war." 
He  spoke  of  its  slaughter  and  of  its  expense. 
"  Every  war,"  said  he,  "  unhinges  society,  disturbs- 
its  peaceful  and  regular  industry,  and  scatters 
poison  and  seeds  of  disease  and  immorality,  which 
continue  to  germinate  and  diffuse  their  baneful  in 
fluences  long  after  it  has  ceased."  He  told  how  the 
nation  had  become  involved  in  this  war.  It  was 
the  inevitable  result  of  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
He  opposed  even  the  suggestion  of  the  annexation 
of  Mexico,  or  of  any  other  conquered  country.  In 
this  case  the  people  professed  and  cherished  a  differ 
ent  religion  which  would  make  the  undertaking  still 
more  hazardous.  l '  Those  whom  God  and  geography 
have  pronounced  should  live  asunder,"  said  he, 
'  *  could  never  be  permanently  and  harmoniously 
united  together." 

Moreover,  this  Union  did  not  need  Mexico  for  its 
own  " happiness  or  greatness."  We  already  had 
space,  and  to  spare,  for  all  our  inhabitants.  He  had 
opposed  the  annexation  of  Texas  ' '  with  honest  zeal 
and  most  earnest  exertions,"  but  being  ours,  it 
would  be  folly  to  throw  her  "back  upon  her  own 
independence,  or  into  the  arms  of  Mexico."  As  for 
the  annexation  of  Mexico  it,  too,  was  not  to  be 
thought  of  by  any  honorable  man.  "  Of  all  the 
dangers  and  misfortunes  which  could  befall  this 
nation,"  said  he,  "I  should  regard  that  of  its  becom 
ing  a  warlike  and  conquering  power  the  most  dire 
ful  and  fatal."  By  such  a  course  we  would  affix 
"to  our  name  and  national  character,  a  similar  if 
not  a  worse  stigma  than  that  involved  in  the  parti 
tion  of  Poland."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  speech 


330  HENRY  CLAY 

Clay  offered  eight  resolutions,  expressive  of  his 
views.  The  seventh  of  these  was  as  follows  : 

"Kesolved,  that  we  do  positively  and  emphatic 
ally  disclaim  and  disavow  any  wish  or  desire  on 
our  part  to  acquire  any  foreign  territory  whatever 
for  purposes  of  propagating  slavery,  or  of  introduc 
ing  slaves  from  the  United  States  into  such  foreign 
territory. ' ' 

The  Whigs  of  the  country  were  invited  to  meet 
and  express  their  feelings  and  opinions  upon  the 
subject,  and  they  responded  at  once,  endorsing  Clay 
and  his  resolutions  in  the  most  emphatic  terms.  In 
the  large  cities  the  meetings  attained  enormous  pro 
portions.  His  voice  came  as  a  "trumpet  blast," 
said  an  address  adopted  by  a  great  assemblage  in 
New  York.  In  that  city  his  Lexington  speech  was 
printed  in  gold  letters  and  elegantly  bound,  with  a 
frontispiece  portrait.  He  was  shown  standing  upon 
a  rock.  At  his  right  was  a  sailor  holding  the  Amer 
ican  flag  ;  on  the  left  an  artisan,  emblematic  of  the 
peaceful  pursuits  which  his  policies  had  done  so 
much  to  cultivate. 

That  the  party  everywhere  looked  to  Clay  as  its 
leader,  and  poured  upon,  indeed  overwhelmed  him 
with,  expressions  of  its  affection  and  confidence,  led 
him  to  say  naught  in  discouragement  of  proposals 
to  bring  his  name  before  the  nominating  convention 
in  1848.  Tlmrlow  Weed,  who  had  cheated  Clay  out 
of  the  prize  in  1840,  and  taken  up  a  military  candi 
date,  now  again  sought  a  returning  "hero"  from 
the  Mexican  battle-fields.  Zachary  Taylor  seemed 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case  from  the  stand 
point  of  the  "  practical  politicians"  in  the  party. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      331 

Despite  the  fact  that  he  had  spent  his  life  on  the 
frontier,  and  was  without  party  affiliations — he  had 
never  in  his  life  attended  an  election  to  vote  for  any 
one — it  was  conceived  that  he  would  be  a  good  Whig 
leader. 

Needless  to  say,  Clay  did  not  accede  to  this  view. 
It  was  his  objection  to  Jackson,  of  course,  that  he 
was  a  military  chieftain,  and  was  without  knowledge 
or  skill  in  civil  matters.  He  wrote  to  Daniel  Ull- 
man  on  May  12,  1847,  that,  if  General  Taylor  were 
chosen,  the  nation,  in  his  opinion,  could  "  bid  adieu 
to  the  election  ever  again  of  any  man  to  the  office  of 
Chief  Magistrate,  who  is  not  taken  from  the  army. 
Both  parties  will  stand  committed  to  the  choice  of 
military  men.  Each  in  the  future  will  seek  to  bring 
him  forward  who  will  be  most  likely  to  secure  the 
public  suffrage.  Military  chieftain  will  succeed 
military  chieftain  until  at  last  one  will  reach  the 
presidency  who,  more  unscrupulous  than  his  prede 
cessors,  will  put  an  end  to  our  liberties  and  establish 
a  throne  of  military  despotism."  l 

The  course  of  opinion,  however  remarkable  it 
may  seem,  was  steadily  in  the  direction  of  the  nom 
ination  of  this  ignorant  man.  Serious  doubt  as  to 
the  wisdom  of  again  making  Clay  the  candidate  of 
the  party  was  expressed  by  a  friend  as  warm  and 
close  to  him  as  John  J.  Crittenden.  "  I  prefer  Mr. 
Clay  to  all  men  for  the  presidency,"  he  wrote,  "but 
my  conviction,  my  involuntary  conviction,  is  that 
he  cannot  be  elected." 

In  the  winter  of  1847-1848  Mr.  Clay  visited  Wash 
ington  to  appear  in  a  case  before  the  Supreme 

1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  541-542. 


332  HENBY  CLAY 

Court.  For  a  number  of  years  lie  had  been  presi 
dent  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  in  whose 
purposes,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  a  sincere  belief. 
The  annual  meetings  were  held  in  Washington  in 
January,  and  he  had  not  been  able  to  attend  them 
since  his  retirement  from  the  Senate.  Now  another 
opportunity  came,  and  the  society,  in  order  to  accom 
modate  all  those  who  would  be  present,  secured  the 
use  of  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  sessions  were  usually  held  in  the  First  Presby 
terian  Church.  This  year,  however,  the  Capitol  itself 
would  not  suffice  to  contain  the  crowds  drawn  there, 
not  because  of  any  interest  in  the  subject  of  coloni 
zation,  but  to  see  and  hear  Henry  Clay. 

Men  came  from  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti 
more,  Richmond  and  other  distant  cities.  u  Whole 
acres"  of  them,  according  to  Alexander  H.  Stephens, 
who  had  his  own  experiences  in  pressing  his  insignif 
icant  frame  into  the  chamber  by  a  side  door,  were 
turned  away.  Clay  himself  could  scarcely  get  into 
the  auditory.  The  call  for  an  address  was  unex. 
pected,  he  said.  "I  have  just  terminated  an  ardu 
ous  journey  of  many  hundreds  of  miles  made  in 
midwinter,"  he  reminded  his  hearers,  u  and  wher 
ever  I  have  been  it  has  invariably  been  my  lot  to  be 
surrounded  by  throngs."  Therefore  he  had  not  had 
the  opportunity  to  make  "  a  solitary  note,"  to  guide 
him  through  such  remarks  as  he  should  offer.  He 
had  been  one  of  the  founders  of  the  society  which 
now  for  twenty-five  years  had  been  sending  free 
negroes  to  Liberia.  "  Far,  very  far,  was  it  from  our 
purpose  to  interfere  with  the  slaves,  or  to  shake  or 
affect  the  title  by  which  they  are  held  in  the  least 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPROMISE      333 

degree  whatever."  He  would  not  touch  upon  the 
subject  of  slavery,  with  which  the  society  itself 
was  not  concerned,  and  though  extremists  among 
slaveholders  on  the  one  side,  and  Abolitionists  on 
the  other  should  denounce,  through  misunderstand 
ing,  the  work  of  the  society,  it  was  doing  that  which 
must  be  done, — effecting  the  separation  of  races  who 
could  never  become  "one  homogeneous  people." 

The  audience  shouted  and  applauded,  as  crowds 
ever  did  in  Clay's  magnetic  presence.  Representa 
tive  Sherrerd,  of  Xorth  Carolina,  remarked  to 
Stephens  that  "  Clay  could  get  more  men  to  run 
after  him  to  hear  him  speak  and  fewer  to  vote  for 
him  than  any  man  in  America."  l 

The  Supreme  Court  room  on  February  12th,  when 
Clay  appeared  there  in  Houston  vs.  the  City  Bank 
of  Xew  Orleans,  was  also  densely  packed,  and  thus 
it  was  wherever  he  went.  While  in  Washington  he 
dined  at  the  President's.  "  Madam,"  he  said  to  Mrs. 
Polk  on  this  occasion,  "  I  have  never  heard  any  one 
make  the  least  complaint  of  your  administration, 
though  I  have  occasionally  heard  some  complaint  of 
your  husband's."  The  sudden  fatality,  which  on 
February  22d  befell  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  at 
eighty-one  was  stricken  by  paralysis  while  he  sat  in 
his  place  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  very  pain 
fully  affected  Clay.  He  visited  the  old  statesman, 
who  had  been  his  companion  in  arms  for  so  many 
years.  Though  Adams  was  quite  unconscious  Mr. 

1Schurz,  Vol.  II,  pp.  269-270,  following  Johnston  and 
Browne's  Life  of  Stephens,  which  gives  the  date  of  Stephens's 
letter  reporting  this  meeting  as  1845,  manifestly  errs.  The  date 
must  be  1848.  Clay  did  not  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Coloni 
zation  Society  in  1845.  See  its  reports  for  those  years. 


334  HENBY  CLAY 

Clay  took  one  of  the  limp  hands  in  his  own  and 
gave  way  to  his  grief. 

Going  on  to  Philadelphia,  Clay  was  treated  to  a 
public  reception  in  Independence  Hall.  He  feel 
ingly  spoke  of  Mr.  Adams,  news  of  whose  death 
overtook  him  at  Baltimore.  A  pressing  invitation 
to  go  to  New  York  was  accepted.  A  delegation 
of  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  olden  style, 
accompanied  him  as  an  escort  as  far  as  Amboy, 
where  he  was  received  by  a  committee  representing 
New  York,  whose  guest  he  was  to  be.  The  mayor 
formally  welcomed  him.  Again  he  must  respond. 
Again  there  was  a  procession  through  the  streets 
crowded  with  shouting  people,  and  there  seemed 
nothing  left  but  another  canvass  with  Clay  as  the 
Whig  standard-bearer. 

Upon  his  return  to  "  Ashland  "  he  continued  to 
receive  letters  from  his  friends,  advising  him  in  re 
gard  to  the  course  of  the  campaign  for  his  nomina 
tion  by  the  convention,  which  was  to  meet  in  Phila 
delphia  on  June  7th.  Hopeful  accounts  of  his  pros 
pects  were  transmitted  to  him,  and  he  was  not  vain 
in  believing  that,  if  he  could  be  chosen  over  a  mere 
general  in  the  Mexican  War,  it  was  his  duty  not  to 
interfere,  while  his  friends  pressed  his  candidacy. 
The  Democrats,  in  passing  the  free  trade  tariff  of 
1846,  had  alienated  those  protectionist  elements 
which  they  had  deceived  in  1844.  Mr.  Clay's  pub 
licly-expressed  sympathy  for  the  Irish  sufferers  by 
famine  was  thought  to  mean  much  in  reference  to 
the  foreign  vote  which  had  been  cast  against  him  in 
1844.  Many  excellent  arguments  were  cited  in  favor 
of  his  nomination.  He,  however,  was  not  swift  to 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPROMISE       335 

yield.  He  wrote  to  Thomas  B.  Stevenson  on  De 
cember  2,  1847  :  "I  am  most  unwilling  to  be  thought 
to  desire  a  nomination  for  the  presidency.  If  better 
can  be  done  without  my  name  than  with  it,  for  God's 
sake,  let  me  be  passed  by.  But  if  I  am  to  be  used, 
I  desire  that  I  may  be  brought  forward  under  the 
most  auspicious  circumstances."  l 

On  February  19,  1848,  he  again  wrote  to  Steven 
son  :  "I  maintain  my  passive  attitude  ;  neither  for 
the  present  consenting  to,  nor  refusing  the  use  of 
my  name." 

His  friends  in  Ohio  were  particularly  insistent, 
and  from  the  highest  sources  in  the  party  came 
promises  of  the  support  of  his  name  in  the  conven 
tion.  By  reason  of  these  representations  he  pub 
lished  a  note  in  a  newspaper  expressive  of  his  will 
ingness  again  to  be  the  Whig  candidate.  ' '  Having 
taken  this  ground,"  he  said  in  April,  1848,  recall 
ing  the  unfortunate  campaign  of  four  years  before, 
"  I  mean  henceforward  to  abstain  from  writing  any 
political  letters  for  publication,  whatever  the  conse 
quences  may  be.  I  have  adopted  this  resolution  not 
from  any  desire  to  conceal  my  opinions,  but  from  a 
perfect  conviction  derived  from  sad  experience  that 
all  such  letters,  from  perversion  or  misrepresenta 
tion,  do  more  harm  than  good." 

No  candidate  could  be  elected  without  some  of  the 
slave  states  and  he  would  receive,  he  thought,  the 
votes  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina, 
Maryland,  and,  probably,  Louisiana  and  Florida.' 

'Colton,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  461. 

*  These  facts  are  from  the  Stevenson  letters  in  Colton, 
Vol.  Ill,  appendix. 


336  1-lEtfKY  CLAY 

The  mortification  of  the  next  few  weeks  was  great, 
and  he  should  have  been  spared  it.  The  opportunist 
office-seeking  leaders,  spoken  of  as  the  "  congres 
sional  clique," — those  who  had  preferred  Harrison 
to  Clay  in  the  Harrisburg  convention  in  1839,— 
aided  by  some  new  recruits,  were  now  again  iu  con 
trol  of  the  party  machinery.  As  many  as  seven  out 
of  the  twelve  Kentucky  delegates  voted  for  Taylor. 
It  was  cause  for  great  disappointment  to  Clay  that 
his  old  friend  Crittenden  l  should  now  oppose  him. 
Ohio,  whose  support  had  been  confidently  expected, 
deserted  him  in  an  incomprehensible  way.  On  the 
first  ballot  the  vote  was,  Taylor  111,  Clay  97,  Scott 
43,  Webster  22,  Clayton  4  and  McLean  2.  Clay's 
vote  fell  and  Taylor's  gained  until  the  fourth  ballot, 
when  the  latter  was  nominated. 

The  result  was  far  from  pleavSing  to  many  of  the 
delegates,  and  the  convention  adjourned  in  confu 
sion.  It  adopted  no  statement  of  party  principles  ; 

1  Happily  there  was  a  reunion  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Crittenden  before  Mr.  Clay's  death.  The  latter  one  day  said  to 
a  friend  whose  hand  he  took  in  his  own:  "My  friend,  my 
dear  friend — I  must  call  you  so  for  I  have  known  you  so  long 
and  so  well — there  is  one  thing  that  has  troubled  me,  and  that 
is  that  Mr.  Crittendeu  should  have  suffered  in  the  public  esti 
mation  for  his  conduct  in  relation  to  the  election  of  General 
Taylor  and  I  regret  that  I  was  in  an  error  about  it  even  for  a 
moment  myself.  I  am  now  satisfied  that  his  whole  conduct 
in  that  matter  was  what  Mr.  Crittenden's  friends  would  have 
expected  of  him,  and  I  wish  you  to  disabuse  the  public  mind  on 
this  subject,  and  do  not  forget  it." — Orlando  Brown  to  Mr. 
Clay's  son,  Thomas^H.  Clay,  July  19,  1852. 

When  Crittenden  was  mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  the  Whig 
nomination  for  President  in  1852,  Clay  was  asked  if  he  would 
favor  it.  He  replied:  "Mr.  Crittenden  and  myself  are  now 
cordial  friends,  and  if  it  be  necessary  to  bring  him  forward  as 
the  candidate,  it  will  meet  my  hearty  approbation." — J.  R. 
Underwood  to  Thomas  H.  Clay,  August  3,  1852. 


THE  LA8T  GKEAT  COMPROMISE      337 

its  candidate  for  the  presidency  avowed  none.  Clay 
felt  this  indignity  more  than  any  which  he  had  be 
fore  suffered.  To  Stevenson  he  wrote  on  June  1-4, 
1848: 

"The  less  said  the  better  about  the  result  of  the 
late  Whig  convention  at  Philadelphia.  I  believe 
that  I  can  bear  it  with  much  less  regret  than  my 
warm-hearted  friends.  Whatever  I  do  feel  is  prin 
cipally  on  their  account,  and  on  account  of  the  prin 
ciples  which  were  at  issue,  and  which  have  been  so 
little  regarded.  I  have  not  lost  one  hour's  sleep,  nor 
one  meal  of  victuals.  Accustomed  as  I  have  been 
to  disappointments  and  to  afflictions,  they  disturb 
now,  less  than  ever,  my  composure.  I  hope  that  I 
derive  some  support  from  a  resignation  to  the  will 
of  the  great  Disposer  of  all  events." 

He  wished  to  know  why  Ohio  had  failed.  Except 
at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  that  state,  he  would  not 
have  allowed  his  name  to  come  before  the  conven 
tion  on  any  account.  But  he  had  no  reproaches. 
What  had  been  done  was  done.  His  friends  were 
less  philosophic.  It  was,  said  one  of  them,  "the 
greatest  act  of  national  injustice"  which  it  was  in 
the  power  of  the  delegates  to  perform.  The  pro 
ceeding  was  described  as  "treachery,"  which  met 
with  "the  execrations  of  the  mass  of  the  party." 
The  convention,  said  another,  had  committed  the 
"  double  crime  of  suicide  and  parricide."  It  had 
killed  itself  and  its  parent  at  one  blow. 

Mr.  Clay  had  cordially  given  his  support  to  Harri 
son  in  1840,  but  he  could  and  would  not  now  forward 
Taylor's  campaign.  He  would  "remain  quiet," 
he  wrote  to  a  friend,  submitting  to  what  had  been 


338  HENEY  CLAY 

done  in  so  far  as  it  related  to  himself.  lie  could 
not  favor  Taylor  as  a  Whig,  when  the  candidate 
declared  that  he  was  a  "no  party"  man,  with 
out  definite  principles.  Indeed,  before  the  meet 
ing  of  the  convention  he  had  written  Clay  a  letter, 
which  the  latter  had  magnanimously  neglected  to 
make  public  until  long  afterward,  saying  that  he 
meant  to  run  for  President  in  any  event,  whether 
he  were  nominated  as  a  Whig  or  not,  a  fact  which 
Mr.  Clay's  friends  always  believed  would  have 
been  fatal  to  the  general's  prospects  if  it  had  been 
disclosed  at  the  right  time. 

u  In  such  a  contest,"  said  Clay,  UI  can  feel  no 
enthusiasm,  and  I  am  not  hypocrite  enough  to  affect 
what  I  do  not  feel.  .  .  .  My  race  is  run.  Dur 
ing  the  short  time  which  remains  to  me  in  this  world 
I  desire  to  preserve  untarnished  that  character 
which  so  many  have  done  me  the  honor  to  respect 
and  esteem.  .  .  .  Seeking  to  influence  nobody,  I 
hope  to  be  permitted  to  pursue  for  myself  the  dic 
tates  of  my  own  conscience. ' ' 

Naturally,  in  the  heat  of  the  canvass  he  was  vio 
lently  criticized  by  Taylor's  partisans  for  not  giving 
his  aid  to  the  candidate.  "  It  [the  criticism]  does 
not  disturb  my  equanimity,"  he  wrote  to  Stevenson 
on  August  5th,  tl  nor  will  it  drive  me  from  the  even 
tenor  of  my  way.  All  my  solicitude  now  in  regard 
to  myself  is  to  preserve  untarnished  my  humble 
fame,  and  I  mean  to  be  the  exclusive  judge  of  the 
best  means  to  accomplish  that  object." 

He  was  never  out  of  the  public  mind.  A  vacancy 
occurring  in  the  United  States  Senate,  the  governor 

1  Private  Correspondence,  pp.  567-568. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      339 

asked  him  to  accept  the  appointment,  but  he  de 
clined.  Taylor  having  allied  himself  with  the  slave 
holders,  in  the  view  of  many  Northern  Whigs,  efforts 
were  made,  late  in  the  campaign,  to  obtain  Clay's 
consent  to  lead  a  third  party,  but  he  promptly  re 
fused.  He  was  still  unwilling  to  say  that  he  would 
vote  for  Taylor,  although  every  effort  was  made  to 
obtain  such  a  statement  from  him.  No  one  should 
be  misled  by  him.  He  was  induced  to  say,  how 
ever,  that  he  could  not  favor  General  Cass. 

Slavery  and  anti-slavery  were  to  enter  into  the 
contest  as  never  before,  with  strange  results.  Taylor 
secured  the  votes  of  fifteen  states,  including  eight 
slave  states,  and  won  ;  but  the  victory  was  the  knell 
of  the  Whig  party.  Like  its  other  President,  Har 
rison,  Taylor  died  after  a  short  incumbency  of  his 
office,  which  passed  to  Millard  Fillmore,  the  Vice- 
President,  a  respected  leader  of  the  party  in  New 
York  state,  of  whom  Mr.  Clay  thought  and  spoke 
with  favor. 

The  winter  of  1848-1849  was  again  spent  in  New 
Orleans.  Mr.  Clay  had  said  before  going  South,  in 
answer  to  many  inquiries,  that  if  it  were  the  desire 
of  the  legislature  to  send  him  again  to  the  Senate, 
he  would  accept  the  office.  He  scented  the  battle 
from  afar,  and  was  a  little  restive  to  be  where  he 
could  take  a  part  in  the  great  sectional  conflict. 
The  election,  which  was  for  a  full  term  of  six  years, 
was  a  satisfaction  to  him,  and  afforded  him  the  op 
portunity  to  figure  in  another  important  national 
scene. 

While  he  was  absent  in  the  South,  Kentucky  had 
in  hand  a  bitter  anti- slavery  discussion,  induced  by 


340  HENEY  CLAY 

the  election  of  a  convention  to  revise  the  state  con 
stitution.  On  February  17,  1849,  he  sent  from  New 
Orleans  to  Eichard  Pindell  in  Lexington  a  long 
letter,  wherein  he  expressed  his  views  on  the  subject 
of  emancipation.  He  had  always  insisted  that  it 
was  a  matter  for  the  states,  and  now  that  his  own 
Kentucky  was  face  to  face  with  the  issue,  his  heart 
was  found  in  the  right  place.  The  question  was 
whether  slavery  should  be  permitted  to  continue  to 
exist  indefinitely,  or  whether  some  provision  should 
not  be  made  for  its  "  gradual  and  ultimate  extinc 
tion.7'  Clay's  plan  called  for  arrangements  to  free  at 
a  specified  age,  say  twenty -five,  all  slaves  born  after 
1855  or  1860.  Others  would  remain  slaves  for  life. 
When  liberated  they  should  be  removed  to  some 
colony  like  Liberia,  the  cost  of  the  transfer  to  be 
defrayed  out  of  a  fund  raised  by  the  hire  of  the 
freed  men  at  profitable  labor.  It  was  a  slow  and 
cautious  process.  It  promised  nothing  for  a  long 
term  of  years,  and  then  a  difficult  and,  as  we  think 
now,  an  impracticable  scheme  of  colonization.  A  fter 
unfolding  his  plan,  Mr.  Clay  said  : 

u  Kentucky  enjoys  high  respect  and  honorable 
consideration  throughout  the  "Union  and  throughout 
the  civilized  world  ;  but  in  my  humble  opinion  no 
title  which  she  lias  to  the  esteem  and  admiration  of 
mankind,  no  deeds  of  her  former  glory  would  equal 
in  greatness  and  grandeur  that  of  being  the  pioneer 
state  in  removing  from  her  soil  every  trace  of  human 
slavery,  and  in  establishing  the  descendants  of 
Africa  within  her  jurisdiction  in  the  native  land  of 
their  forefathers." 

The  not  very  favorable  reception  of  Clay's  sug- 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPKOMISE      341 

gestions  must  have  been  foreseen.  On  March  3d 
he  wrote  to  his  sou  James  :  "  As  I  regret  to  hear 
that  it  is  not  popular,  I  suppose  that  my  letter  will 
bring  on  me  some  odium.  I  nevertheless  wish  it 
published.  I  owe  that  to  the  cause,  and  to  myself 
and  to  posterity."  ' 

Of  course,  naught  came  of  the  project.  Proposals 
looking  toward  emancipation,  of  whatever  kind, 
seemed  only  to  increase  the  determination  of  the 
slaveholders  to  prove  to  the  world  that  their  insti 
tution  was  irreproachable,  if  not  really  sacred. 
The  summer  for  Mr.  Clay  was  spent  quietly  at 
"  Ashland,"  he  not  having  taken  the  trip  East  for 
the  "call  session."  "  I  shall  go  to  Washington  if 
I  am  spared,"  he  wrote,  "  with  a  firm  determination 
to  oppose  or  support  measures  according  to  my  de 
liberate  sense  of  their  effects  upon  the  interests  of 
our  country."  2  He  left  home  on  November  1st,  and 
on  his  way  passed  two  or  three  weeks  in  Philadel 
phia,  New  York  and  Baltimore,  where,  as  he  wrote 
his  son,  his  presence  "  excited  the  usual  enthusi 
asm"  among  his  friends.  He  took  a  parlor  and  a 
bedroom  at  the  National  Hotel  in  Washington,  and 
was  attended  by  a  valet,  a  free  colored  man.  He  was 
early  invited  to  dine  with  the  President,  but  their 
relations,  as  in  Louisiana,  where  they  had  met  after 
the  election,  were  not  more  than  formally  civil. 

The  bitterness  of  feeling  over  the  slavery  ques 
tion,  which  had  developed  in  Mr.  Clay's  absence, 
was  much  greater  than  he  could  believe.  Despite 
his  protests  against  the  recognition  of  the  issue,  it 
had  pressed  its  way  into  everything,  and  a  time  was 

'  Private  Correspondence,  p.  585,  J  Ibid.)  p.  588, 


342  HENRY  CLAY 

at  band  when,  if  some  compromise  could  not  be  ef 
fected,  the  Union  might  be  considered  at  an  end. 
The  Southern  leaders  were  not  at  all  pleased  to  note 
Clay's  return  to  Washington,  thinking  that  his  in 
fluence  upon  Taylor  and  the  Whig  administration 
would  unfavorably  afiect  them.  He  no  sooner 
reached  there  than  he  took  measures  to  check  dis 
union  sentiment.  He  wrote  to  General  Leslie 
Combs,  asking  him  to  organize  public  meetings  in 
Kentucky  to  stem  the  progress  of  the  scheme  for  the 
disruption  of  the  government.  Mississippi,  in  May, 
1849,  had  taken  the  lead  in  an  address  to  the  people 
of  the  South,  asking  them  to  send  delegates  to  a 
convention  to  be  held  in  Nashville  on  the  first  Mon 
day  in  June,  1850.  The  support  of  Kentucky  was 
confidently  expected  by  the  leaders,  and  Clay  was 
determined  that  it  should  not  be  given.  In  his  let 
ter  to  Combs  he  said  : 

"  The  feeling  for  disunion  among  some  intemper 
ate  Southern  politicians  is  stronger  than  I  hoped, 
or  supposed  it  could  be.  The  masses  generally, 
even  at  the  South,  are,  I  believe,  yet  sound  ;  but  they 
may  become  influenced  and  perverted.  The  best 
counteraction  of  that  feeling  is  to  be  derived  from 
popular  expressions  of  public  meetings  of  the 
people."  l 

These  were  held  in  Kentucky  and  in  other  states 
at  Clay's  patriotic  instigation.  It  was  his  plan  to 
speak  little  in  Congress,  and  when  he  did  it  would 
be  with  a  view  to  endeavoring  to  "  throw  oil  upon 
the  troubled  waters."  In  the  hope  that  he  would 
have  small  part  in  the  proceedings  he  was  mistaken, 

1  Private  Correspondence,  p.  593. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      343 

for  he  at  once  took  his  old  post  as  the  leader  of  the 
Senate — indeed,  he  could  be  naught  but  a  leader 
anywhere. 

The  burning  question  was  the  treatment  of  slavery 
in  the  empire  which  had  been  acquired  as  a  result 
of  the  Mexican  War.  Clay  knew,  and  said  in  his 
correspondence,  that  this  war  had  been  waged  on 
Southern  advice,  and  that  the  great  accessions  to 
the  national  domain  were  made  at  the  dictation  of 
the  South.  Indeed,  all  the  recent  extensions  of  the 
national  area  were  eifected  to  satisfy  the  South, 
while  the  domination  of  its  leaders  in  the  counsels 
of  the  Union  had  materially  interfered  with  the  de 
velopment  of  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the 
Northern  people.  The  Wilrnot  Proviso,  that  slavery 
should  be  forever  prohibited  in  all  the  territory  ac 
quired  from  Mexico,  had  Clay's  sincere  approval.. 
If  the  South  did  not  control  her  passions  and  ambi 
tious,  the  result  would  be  * ;  the  formation  of  a  sec 
tional  and  Northern  party,  which  will  sooner  or 
later  take  permanent  exclusive  possession  of  the 
government." 

In  California  and  New  Mexico  the  people  were 
busily  at  work  planning  constitutions  which  would 
lead  to  their  becoming  states  of  the  Union.  Taylor, 
though  much  was  expected  of  him  as  a  slaveholder, 
insisted  that  both  California  aucj  New  Mexico  had 
the  right  to  come  into  the  Union  as  free  states,  if 
this  were  their  wish.  The  Southern  hotspurs — Cal- 
1101111' s  brood — had  never  before  been  so  numerous 
and  active.  Slavery  influenced  their  view  of  every 
subject.  A  simple  proposal  to  give  the  privileges 
of  the  floor  of  the  Senate  to  Father  Mathew,  the 


344  HENKY  CLAY 

famous  temperance  advocate,  met  with  Southern 
opposition  because  he  had  once  signed  an  anti 
slavery  petition  in  Ireland.  Such  a  course  deserved 
a  stronger  reproof  than  that  which  came  from  Clay, 
but  he  chose  his  words  in  his  great  desire  to  pacify 
the  Southern  leaders.  "  I  put  it  in  all  seriousness, 
in  a  spirit  of  the  most  perfect  kindness  to  the  hon 
orable  senator  from  Alabama,"  he  said,  "  whether 
this  pushing  the  subject  of  slavery,  in  its  collateral 
and  remote  branches  upon  all  possible  occasions 
that  may  arise,  during  our  deliberations  in  this 
body,  is  not  impolitic,  unwise,  and  injurious  to  the 
stability  of  the  very  institution  which  I  have  no 
doubt  the  honorable  gentleman  would  uphold." 

Day  by  day,  in  his  remarks  upon  great  and  small 
subjects,  he  brought  back  into  the  Senate  that  spirit 
of  courtesy  toward  an  antagonist,  and  general  suavity 
of  demeanor  in  debate,  which  were  in  danger  of  dis 
appearing  in  our  national  parliamentary  bodies, 
and  soon  after  he  left  the  chamber,  did  entirely  dis 
appear.  While  he  was  putting  into  order  his  plans 
for  some  healing  measure — it  was  only  the  pur 
pose  of  applying  balm  to  the  distracted  country 
which  had  caused  him  to  consent,  at  his  age,  to 
leave  his  home  and  resume  his  place  in  the  Senate,— 
many  questions  arose  to  claim  his  attention.  An 
advertisement,  which  he  had  chanced  to  see  in  a 
newspaper,  of  the  sale  of  the  original  manuscript 
copy  of  Washington's  "  Farewell  Address,"  gave 
him  an  opportunity  to  recall,  to  the  minds  of  the 
younger  men  assembled  around  him,  some  of  its 
patriotic  lessons.  It  was  too  good  an  invitation  to 
neglect,  for  he  could  dwell  upon  the  advice  u  to  be- 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPROMISE      345 

ware  of  sectional  division,  to  beware  of  demagogues, 
to  beware  of  the  consequences  of  the  spirit  of  dis 
union/' 

It  was  an  extraordinary  company  which  he  found 
in  the  Senate, — upon  his  return  to  the  chamber — 
composed  as  it  was  of  men  who  had  been  much 
to  the  country,  or  were  later  destined  to  figure 
prominently  in  its  history.  Some  seemed  to  have 
come  for  the  nation's  funeral ;  some  to  attend  its  re 
birth.  The  great  triumvirs  met  here  for  the  last 
time.  Calhoun,  after  leaving  Tyler's  cabinet,  had 
been  returned  to  the  Senate. in  1845,  and  would  die 
in  harness  in  a  few  months.  Webster  had  returned 
in  the  same  year  and  would  remain  until,  after 
Taylors  death,  Fillmore  recalled  him  to  the  State 
Department.  Beutou  was  in  his  place,  and  in  look 
ing  around  him,  Clay  could  see  the  faces  of  Willie 
P.  Maugum,  Sam  Houston,  from  the  new  state  of 
Texas  ;  John  M.  Berrien,  the  veteran  of  Georgia  ; 
William  E.  King,  of  Alabama  ;  Jefferson  Davis, 
Lewis  Cass,  Henry  S.  Foote,  Hunter  and  Mason  of 
Virginia  ;  Butler,  who  had  three  years  before  be 
come  Calhoun' s  colleague  from  South  Carolina  ; 
Soule  of  Louisiana,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  and  John 
Bell  ;  Thomas  Cor  win  from  Ohio,  and  inflexible 
^Northern  leaders  like  John  P.  Hale,  William  H. 
Seward  and  Salmon  P.  Chase.  No  similar  group  of 
men  were  ever  gathered  together  in  any  legislative 
hall  upon  this  continent,  before  or  since. 

The  question  of  compromise  engaged  Clay's  at-? 
tentiou  by  day  and  by  night.  He  had  many  confer 
ences  with  the  leaders,  and  was  by  no  means  certain 
of  success.  On  January  24,  1850,  he  wrote  to  James 


346  HE:NTRY  CLAY 

Harlaii :     "  Slavery  here  is  the  all-engrossing  theme, 
and  my  hopes  and  iny  fears  alternately  prevail  an 
to  any  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  vexed  question 
I  have  been  anxiously  considering  whether  any  com 
preheusive  plan  can  be  devised  and  proposed  to  ad 
j  ust  satisfactorily  the  distracting  question.     I  should 
not,  however,  offer  any  scheme  unless  it  meets  mj 
entire  concurrence."  l 

Five  days  later,  on  January  29th,  Clay  offered  hus 
plan  to  the  Senate,  in  the  form  of  eight  resolutions 

"It  being  desirable,  for  the  peace,  concord  and 
harmony  of  the  Union  of  these  states,  to  settle  and 
adjust  amicably  all  existing  questions  of  controversy 
between  them,  arising  out  of  the  institution  of  sla 
very,  upon  a  fair,  equitable  and  just  basis,  there 
fore, 

u  1st.  Eesolved,  that  California,  with  suitable 
boundaries,  ought,  upon  her  application,  to  be  ad 
mitted  as  one  of  the  states  of  this  Union  without  tlie 
imposition  by  Congress  of  any  restriction  in  respect 
to  the  exclusion  or  the  introduction  of  slavery  within 
those  boundaries. 


.  t 


2d.  Eesolved,  that,  as  slavery  does  not  exist 
by  law  and  is  not  likely  to  be  introduced  into  any 
of  the  territory  acquired  by  the  United  States  from 
the  republic  of  Mexico,  it  is  inexpedient  for  Con 
gress  to  provide  by  law,  either  for  its  introduction 
into  or  exclusion  from  any  part  of  the  said  territory  : 
;md  that  appropriate  territorial  governments  ought 
to  be  established  by  Congress  in  all  of  the  said  terri 
tory,  not  assigned  as  the  boundaries  of  the  proposed 
state  of  California,  without  the  adoption  of  any  re 
striction  or  condition  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

U3d.     Resolved,    that   the  western   boundary  of 
1  Private  Correspondence }  pp.  51)9- GOO. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      347 

the  state  of  Texas  ought  to  be  fixed  on  the  Rio  del 
^sorte,  commencing  one  marine  league  from  its 
mouth,  and  running  up  that  river  to  the  southern 
line  of  New  Mexico  ;  thence  with  that  line  easi- 
wardly,  and  so  continuing  in  the  same  direction  to 
the  line  established  between  the  United  States  and 
Spain,  excluding  any  portion  of  Kew  Mexico, 
whether  lying  on  the  east  or  west  of  that  river. 

U4th.  Resolved,  that  it  be  proposed  to  the  state 
of  Texas  that  the  United  States  will  provide  for  the 
payment  of  all  that  portion  of  the  legitimate  and 
bona  fide  public  debt  of  that  state  contracted  prior 
to  its  annexation  to  the  United  States.  [Here  follow 
conditions  and  specifications.] 

u  5th.  Resolved,  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  while  that  in 
stitution  continues  to  exist  in  the  state  of  Maryland 
without  the  consent  of  that  state,  without  the  con 
sent  of  the  people  of  the  District,  and  without  just 
compensation  to  the  owners  of  slaves  within  the 
District. 

"  6th.  But  resolved,  that  it  is  expedient  to  pro 
hibit  within  the  'District  the  slave-trade,  in  slaves 
brought  into  it  from  states  or  places  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  District,  either  to  be  sold  therein  as 
merchandise,  or  to  be  transported  to  other  markets 
without  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  7th.  Resolved,  that  more  effectual  provision 
ought  to  be  made  by  law,  according  to  the  require 
ment  of  the  Constitution,  for  the  restitution  and  de 
livery  of  persons,  bound  to  service  or  labor  in  any 
state,  who  may  escape  into  any  other  state  or  terri 
tory  in  the  Union. 

a  8th.  Resolved,  that  Congress  has  no  power  to 
prohibit  or  obstruct  the  trade  in  slaves  between  the 
slaveholding  states  ;  but  that  the  admission  or  ex 
clusion  of  slaves,  brought  from  one  into  another  of 


348  HENRY  CLAY 

them,  depends  exclusively  upon  their  own  particula 
laws." 


In  introducing  these  resolutions,  Mr.  Clay  asserted 
that  all  taken  together  in  combination  they  propose*; 
"  aii  amicable  arrangement  of  all  questions  in  con 
troversy  between  the  free  and  the  slave  states,  grow 
ing  out  of  the  great  question  of  slavery."  It  was. 
he  said,  "a  great  national  scheme  of  compromise 
and  harmony."  His  remarks  were  in  his  most  pa 
cificatory  spirit.  They  were  addressed  to  North  ant 
South.  He  appealed  especially  to  the  men  of  tin 
Northern  states  because  they  were  greater  "in  point 
of  numbers,"  and  he  continued  happily,  "greatness* 
and  magnanimity  should  ever  be  allied."  On  theii 
side  they  had  "an  abstraction,  a  sentiment,"  noble 
it  might  be,  if  it  were  rightly  directed.  On  the 
other  side  there  was  property  to  be  sacrificed  ;  there 
were  homes  and  families  in  danger  from  servile  in 
surrections  and  race  wars.  "  In  the  one  scale  then," 
he  concluded,  "  we  behold  sentiment,  sentiment, 
sentiment  alone  ;  in  the  other,  property,  the  social 
fabric,  life,  and  all  that  makes  life  desirable  and 
happy."  J 

It  was  Clay's  wish,  he  said,  that  the  senators 
should  consider  his  proposals  calmly,  in  the  spirit 
in  which  he  had  thought  them  out  and  offered  them  ; 
but  expressions  of  angry  opinion  immediately  en 
sued.  Foote,  Mason,  Jefferson  Davis  and  others 
arose  in  a  far  from  pleasant  mood.  To  Davis,  who 
insisted  upon  an  extension  of  the  line  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Clay  said  in  reply : 

1  Last  Seven  Years,  pp.  122-123. 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      349 

"  I  am  reminded  of  my  coming  from  a  slave  state. 
I  tell  the  senator  from  Mississippi  [Davis],  and  I 
tell  the  senator  from  Virginia  [Mason],  that  I  know 
my  duty,  and  that  I  mean  to  express  the  opinions  I 
entertain,  fearless  of  all  mankind.  .  .  .  And 
now,  sir,  coming  from  a  slave  state,  as  I  do,  I  owe 
it  to  myself,  I  owe  it  to  truth,  I  owe  it  to  the  sub 
ject  to  say  that  no  earthly  power  could  induce  me 
to  vote  for  a  specific  measure  for  the  introduction  of 
slavery  where  it  had  not  before  existed,  either  north 
or  south  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  line.  Coming 
as  I  do  from  a  slave  state,  it  is  my  solemn,  deliberate 
and  well-matured  determination  that  no  power,  no 
earthly  power  shall  compel  me  to  vote  for  the  posi 
tive  introduction  of  slavery  either  south  or  north  of 
that  line.  Sir,  while  you  reproach  and  justly,  too, 
our  British  ancestors  for  the  introduction  of  this  in 
stitution  upon  the  continent  of  America,  I  am  for 
one  unwilling  that  the  posterity  of  the  present  in 
habitants  of  California  or  New  Mexico  shall  re 
proach  us  for  doing  just  what  we  reproach  Great 
Britain  for  doing  to  us.  If  the  citizens  of  those  ter 
ritories  choose  to  establish  slavery,  and  if  they  come 
here  with  constitutions  establishing  slavery,  I  am 
for  admitting  them  with  such  provisions  in  their 
constitutions  ;  but  then  it  will  be  their  own  work 
and  not  ours ;  and  their  posterity  will  have  to  re 
proach  them  and  not  us  for  forming  constitutions  al 
lowing  the  institution  of  slavery  to  exist  among 
them.  These  are  my  views,  sir,  and  I  choose  to  ex 
press  them ;  and  I  care  not  how  extensively  or 
universally  they  are  known."  l 

1  Globe,  Vol.  21,  Part  I,  p.  249. 


ar>0  HENRY  CLAY 

Clay's  proposals  were  now  fairly  before  the  Senate 
and  the  country.  Crowds  assembled  in  the  Capitol 
to  hear  the  debates.  Clay  himself  appeared  in  ;i 
memorable  speech,  covering  two  days,  February 
5th  and  6th.  His  health  was  not  good.  He  wti> 
separated  from  the  kind  attentions  of  Mrs.  Clay, 
and  subjected  to  the  inconveniences  and  discomforts 
of  life  in  a  lodging-house.  He  had  carefully  pre 
pared  himself  for  the  occasion  and  was  aceornpauiec 
to  the  Capitol  by  Kev.  Dr.  Van  Arsdale,  who  after 
ward  told  of  the  great  statesman's  debility.  At, 
they  reached  the  Capitol  steps  Clay  said  : 

"  Will  you  lend  me  your  arm,  my  friend  ?  for  J 
find  myself  quite  weak  and  exhausted  this  morn 
ing." 

Frequently  they  were  obliged  to  stop  that  he 
might  recover  his  breath.  He  had  a  disagreeable 
cough. 

"Mr.  Clay,  had  you  not  better  defer  your 
speech?"  Dr.  Van  Arsdale  remarked.  "You  are 
certainly  too  ill  to  exert  yourself  to-day." 

"My  dear  friend,"  answered  Clay,  "I  consider 
our  country  in  danger,  and  if  I  can  be  the  means  in 
any  measure  of  averting  that  danger,  my  health  or 
my  life  is  of  little  consequence." 

The  Senate  chamber  was  thronged  with  spectators 
and  auditors  from  distant  cities,  women  as  well  as 
men.  Clay  rose  amid  an  outburst  of  applause,  and 
this  was  the  sign  for  a  great  shout  from  the  crowd 
without,  hopeless  of  getting  in  ;  it  was,  therefore,  a 
considerable  time  before  the  orator  could  go  on 
with  any  prospect  of  being  heard.  It  was  an 
extraordinary  scene,  even  when  account  is  taken  of 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      351 

Clay's  many  extraordinary  receptions  by  popular 
audiences.  It  was  in  truth  ' '  a  vast  assemblage  of 
beauty,  grace,  elegance  and  intelligence,"  as  the 
speaker  himself  said  in  beginning  his  speech  on 
the  second  day.  Again  to  hear  this  polished  orator 
of  an  age  which  was  rapidly  going  by,  was  rightly 
esteemed  a  rare  opportunity.  He  began  in  a  low 
tone,  faltering  by  reason  of  his  ill -health  and  his 
natural  emotions.  u  I  have  witnessed  many  periods 
of  great  anxiety,  of  peril  and  of  danger,  even, 
to  the  country, "  said  he,  "  but  I  have  never 
before  arisen  to  address  any  assembly  so  op 
pressed,  so  appalled,  so  anxious."  His  moods  and 
tones  were  well  measured  to  the  subject  and  the 
time.  There  were  none  of  those  biting  tongues  of 
fire  in  his  speech  with  which  he  had  scourged  Jack, 
son,  or  later  Calhoun  and  the  faithless  Tyler.  It 
was  the  mellow  voice  of  age,  charitable,  peace-lov 
ing,  conciliatory,  keyed  to  all  the  fearful  responsi 
bilities  of  a  serious  hour. 

He  covered  each  one  of  his  resolutions  in  his 
argument,  and  made  friends  for  them.  Members 
from  time  to  time  interposed  motions  to  adjourn,  but 
he  insisted  that  he  was  able  to  proceed,  and  on  the 
second  day  did  bring  his  argument  to  the  end,  in 
an  eloquent  plea  for  sectional  concord.  He  pictured 
the  horrors  of  civil  war  which  would  inevitably 
follow  any  attempt  at  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
Such  a  dissolution  and  war  are,  he  said  with  what 
truth  later  events  were  needed  to  disclose,  "  iden 
tical  and  inseparable."  They  are  ''convertible 
terms."  "Such  a  war  too  as  that  would  be,  follow 
ing  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  !  "  he  exclaimed 


352  HENRY  CLAY 

with  awful  prophecy.  "Sir,  we  may  search  the 
pages  of  history  and  none  so  furious,  so  bloody,  so 
implacable,  so  exterminating  from  the  wars  of 
Greece  down,  including  those  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  England  and  the  Revolution  of  France — none, 
none  of  them  raged  with  such  violence  or  was  ever 
conducted  with  such  bloodshed  and  enormities, 
as  will  that  war  which  shall  follow  that  dis 
astrous  event — if  that  event  ever  happens  of  disso 
lution." 

He  announced  his  principles  on  this  subject  in 
unmistakable  terms  : 

"  I  am  directly  opposed  to  any  purpose  of  seces 
sion,  of  separation.  I  am  for  staying  within  the 
Union  and  defying  any  portion  of  this  Union  to  ex 
pel  or  drive  me  out  of  the  Union.  I  am  for  staying 
within  the  Union  and  fighting  for  my  rights — if 
necessary  with  the  sword — within  the  bounds  and 
under  the  safeguard  of  the  Union.  I  am  for  vindi 
cating  these  rights  ;  but  not  by  being  driven  out  of 
the  Union  rashly,  and  unceremoniously  by  any  por 
tion  of  this  confederacy.  Here  I  am  within  it,  and 
here  I  mean  to  stand  and  die  ;  as  far  as  my  in 
dividual  purposes  or  wishes  can  go — within  it  to 
protect  myself  and  to  defy  all  power  upon  earth  to 
expel  me  or  drive  me  from  the  situation  in  which  I 
am  placed." 

He  closed  with  this  eloquent  appeal  : 

"I  conjure  gentlemen, — whether  from  the  South 
or  the  North — by  all  they  hold  dear  in  this  world, 
—by  all  their  love  of  liberty, — by  all  their  venera 
tion  for  their  ancestors, — by  all  their  regard  for 
posterity — by  all  their  gratitude  to  Him  who  has 


THE  LAST  GEEAT  COMPROMISE      353 

bestowed  upon  them  such  urmuinbered  blessings — 
by  all  the  duties  which  they  owe  to  mankind  and 
all  the  duties  they  owe  themselves — by  all  these 
considerations,  I  implore  them  to  pause — solemnly 
to  pause — at  the  edge  of  the  precipice  before  the 
fearful  and  disastrous  leap  is  taken  in  the  yawning 
abyss  below,  which  will  inevitably  lead  to  certain 
and  irretrievable  destruction.  And  finally,  Mr. 
President,  I  implore  as  the  best  blessing  that 
Heaven  can  bestow  upon  me  upon  earth,  that,  if  the 
direful  and  sad  event  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union 
shall  happen,  I  may  not  survive  to  behold  the  sad 
and  heartrending  spectacle." 

When  he  had  ended  this  supreme  effort,  men 
crowded  about  him  to  take  his  hand,  and  women 
came  up  to  kiss  him,  so  deeply  moved  were  they  by 
the  appeal.  It  seemed  a  sublime  moment  in  the 
history  of  the  country  and  Clay  was  the  central 
figure  upon  the  stage.  Never  had  he  appeared  so 
grand.  He  had  been  the  darling  of  his  friends.  He 
was  now  almost  their  god. 

On  February  14th,  Senator  Foote,  Davis' s  col* 
league  from  Mississippi,  made  a  motion  that  Clay's 
resolutions  and  all  pending  questions  bound  up  with 
slavery  should  be  referred  to  a  select  committee  of 
thirteen.  Other  resolutions  appeared,  notably  a  se 
ries  Brought  forward  by  Bell  of  Tennessee.  There 
ensued  long  and  acrimonious  debates  upon  all  the 
various  subjects  in  dispute  between  the  two  sections. 

In  response  to  Senator  Foote,  Clay  made  these 
notable  remarks  on  February  14th  : 

"It  is  totally  unnecessary  for  the  gentleman  to 
remind  me  of  my  coming  from  a  slaveholding  state. 


354  HENRY  CLAY 

I  know  whence  I  come,  and  I  know  my  duty,  and  I 
am  ready  to  submit  to  any  responsibility  which  be 
longs  to  me  as  a  senator  from  a  slaveholdiug  state. 
Sir,   I  have  heard  something  said   on    this   and  a 
former  occasion  about  allegiance  to  the  South.     1 
know  no  South,    no  North,   no  East,   no   West   to 
which  I  owe  any  allegiance.     I  owe  allegiance  to 
two  sovereignties,   and   only  two  :  one  is  the  sov 
ereignty  of  this  Union,  and  the  other  is  the  sov 
ereignty  of  the  state  of  Kentucky.     My  allegiance  i& 
to  this  Union  and  to  my  state  ;  but  if  gentlemen  sup 
pose  they  can  exact  from  me  an  acknowledgment  o;' 
allegiance  to  any  ideal  or  future  contemplated  con 
federacy  of  the  South,  I  here  declare  that  I  owe  no 
allegiance  to  it ;  nor  will  I,  for  one,  come  under  an} 
such  allegiance  if  I  can  avoid  it." 

In  a  running  debate  in  the  Senate,  on  February 
20th,  charged  with  inconsistency  of  conduct  on  the 
slavery  question,  Mr.  Clay  said  : 
•'  "  From  the  earliest  moment  when  I  could  con 
sider  the  institution  of  slavery,  I  have  held  and  J 
have  said  from  that  day  down  to  the  present,  again 
and  again,  and  T  shall  go  to  the  grave  with  the 
opinion,  that  it  is  an  evil,  a  social  and  political 
evil,  and  that  it  is  a  wrong,  as  it  respects  those  who 
are  subject  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  ...  1 
desire  the  sympathy  of  no  man,  the  forbearance  of 
no  man  ;  [  desire  to  escape  from  no  responsibility 
of  my  public  conduct  on  account  of  my  age,  or  for 
any  other  cause.  .  .  .  Ready  to  express  my 
opinions  upon  all  and  every  subject,  I  am  de 
termined  to  do  so,  and  no  imputation,  no  threat,  no 
menace,  no  application  of  awe  or  terror  to  me  will 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      355 

be  availing  in  restraining  me  from  expressing  them. 
None,  none  whatever." 

Calhoun,  dying  as  he  was,  too  far  into  the  next 
world  to  speak  to  this,  was  led  into  the  Senate  while 
his  plan  of  compromise  and  peace  was  added  to  the 
general  sum.  Webster  joined  in  the  debate  on 
March  the  7th,  a  date  which  has  ever  since  attached 
to  his  speech,  so  remarkable  as  a  bid  for  the  favor 
of  the  South.  Treason  it  seemed  to  be  to  his  New 
England  friends.  Appearances  favored  the  success 
of  Clay's  plan,  in  spite  of  the  acerbity  of  the  public 
miud.  For  the  moment  the  tide  of  Abolition  in  the 
North  a  little  receded,  fearful  of  the  pictured 
consequences.  The  South  also  curbed  its  hot  pas 
sions. 

On  February  2d  Clay  wrote  to  Daniel  Ullmaii : 
"  I  am  very  glad  to  find  that  my  movement  to  com 
promise  the  slavery  question  is  approved.  The 
timid  from  the  North  hesitate,  and  the  violent 
from  the  South  may  oppose  it,  but  I  entertain  hopes 
of  success."  He  again  urged  the  holding  of  public 
meetings  in  the  North,  recommending  that  his  name 
should  not  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  them. 
They  should  seem  to  be  local  and  spontaneous  as 
semblages  of  the  people.  On  February  15th  he 
again  wrote  to  Mr.  Ullman  concerning  his  scheme 
of  adjustment :  "  Although  I  cannot  positively  say 
so,  I  entertain  strong  hopes  that  it  will  furnish 
the  basis  of  concord  and  a  satisfactory  accommoda 
tion." 

Some  disturbance  of  the  pleasant  feeling,  to  which 
Clay  desired  to  effect  a  return,  was  created  by  Pres 
ident  Taylor.  He,  like  Jackson,  had  a  military 


356  HENEY  CLAY 

view  of  his  office  and  a  slaveholder  though  he  was, 
had  been  taught  to  regard  all  mumbling  about  dis 
union  as  treason.  If  this  was  the  purpose  of  these 
Southerners,  he  said,  they  should  be  dealt  with  by 
law  as  they  deserved,  and  executed. 

The  younger  anti-slavery  men  in  the  Senate,  like 
Seward  and  Chase,  the  former  with  his  "  higher 
law"  speech,  also  added  nothing  which  was  calcu 
lated  to  increase  the  calm  of  the  South.  To  James 
Harlan,  Mr.  Clay  wrote,  on  March  16th  :  "  The  all- 
engrossing  subject  of  slavery  continues  to  agitate  us 
and  to  paralyze  almost  all  legislation.  My  hopes 
are  strong  that  the  question  will  ultimately  be 
amicably  adjusted,  although  when  and  how  cannot 
be  clearly  seen." 

Thus  hope  continued  to  be  felt,  but  no  marked 
progress  was  made  until  Foote's  motion  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  committee  of  thirteen  was  renewed 
and  this  committee  with  six  senators  from  the  North 
and  six  from  the  South,  with  Clay  as  the  thirteenth 
at  its  head,  on  April  19th,  was  commissioned  to  be 
gin  its  task  of  finding  some  plan  of  settlement.  To 
these  thirteen  men  came  the  entire  confused  mass  of 
proposals  and  suggestions,  by  which  the  Senate  and 
the  country  at  large  had  been  regaled,  during  the 
past  months.  On  May  8th  Clay  and  his  colleagues 
reported  three  bills.  The  first,  soon  called  the 
" Omnibus  Bill,"  provided  for  the  admission  of 
California  ;  the  organization  of  territorial  govern 
ments  for  New  Mexico  and  Utah  without  slavery 
restrictions  ;  and  the  adjustment  of  the  boundary 
between  New  Mexico  and  Texas.  The  second  was 
a  fugitive  slave  law  ;  while  the  third  would  prohibit 


THE  LAST  GKEAT  COMPROMISE      357 

the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  To 
gether  they  covered  all  the  essential  points  in  Mr. 
Clay's  original  resolutions. 

Scarcely  any  one  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  the 
report  and  it  was  a  basis  of  further  prolific  argu 
ment.  On  May  13th  Mr.  Clay  himself  took  up  the 
report  in  a  long  and  carefully  prepared  speech, 
comparable  in  many  ways  with  that  which  he  had 
delivered  in  February.  He  was  now  in  somewhat 
better  health  and  called  upon  all  his  remarkable 
oratorical  resources.  He  believed  that  the  signs 
improved : 

"  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  recognize  what  all  have 
seen,  that  since  the  commencement  of  the  session  a 
most  gratifying  change  has  taken  place.  The  North, 
the  glorious  North,  has  come  to  the  rescue  of  this 
Union  of  ours.  She  has  displayed  a  disposition  to 
abate  in  her  demands.  The  South,  the  glorious 
South — no  less  glorious  than  her  neighbor  section  of 
the  Union,  has  also  come  to  the  rescue.  The  minds 
of  men  have  moderated  ;  passion  has  given  place  to 
reason  everywhere." 

"  I  do  not  despair;  I  will  not  despair  that  the 
measure  will  be  carried, "  he  said  as  he  concluded 
his  speech,  *  *  and  I  would  almost  stake  my  exist 
ence,  if  I  dared,  that  if  these  measures  which  have 
been  reported  by  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  were 
submitted  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  to 
morrow,  and  their  vote  were  taken  upon  them,  there 
would  be  nine- tenths  of  them  in  favor  of  the  pacifi 
cation  which  is  embodied  in  that  report." 

Whether  or  not  this  would  have  been  so  Clay 
knew  not  better  than  many  others.  There  was  un- 


358  HENKY  CLAY 

questionably  a  very  deep  anxiety  for  some  scheme 
of  concord,  if  it  should  be  possible  to  find  one. 

It  was  necessary  in  his  work  of  pacification  for 
Clay  to  oppose  President  Taylor's  policy,  which 
called  for  the  immediate  admission  of  California  as 
a  free  state,  and  the  opening  of  a  way  that  seemed 
to  pledge  Utah  and  New  Mexico  to  the  anti-slavery 
cause  also.  In  speaking  against  Taylor's  desire  to 
bring  in  California  at  once  by  a  separate  bill,  Clay, 
on  May  21st,  made  his  famous  allusions  to  the  five 
''bleeding  wounds,"  which  he  indicated  on  his  out 
stretched  hand.  "  What  is  the  plan  of  the  Presi 
dent?"  he  exclaimed.  "  Is  it  to  heal  all  these 
wounds  ?  No  such  thing.  It  is  only  to  heal  one  of 
the  five  and  to  leave  the  other  four  to  bleed  more 
profusely  than  ever  by  the  sole  admission  of  Cali 
fornia,  even  if  it  should  produce  death  itself.  1 
have  said  that  five  wounds  are  open  and  bleeding. 
What  are  they  ?  First,  there  is  California  ;  there 
are  the  territories,  second  ;  there  is  the  question  of 
the  boundary  of  Texas,  the  third  ;  there  is  the  fugi 
tive  slave  bill,  the  fourth  ;  and  there  is  the  question 
of  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
fifth." 

It  was  the  occasion  for  Benton  to  say  that  Clay 
could  have  found  more  bleeding  wounds  if  he  had 
had  more  fingers  on  his  hand.  These  two  men  who 
had  once  been  friends,  and  then  during  the  Jack 
son  regime  were  so  bitterly  opposed  to  each  other, 
were  now  united  in  the  work  of  endeavoring  to  main 
tain  the  Union  which  they  both  loved.  Neverthe 
less,  they  cooperated  under  a  kind  of  armed  neu 
trality.  On  June  13th,  for  instance,  Beuton  accused 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      359 

Clay  of  *  •  lecturing  ' '  the  senators,  who  were  all,  he 
said,  above  thirty  years  of  age,  the  limit  prescribed 
by  the  Constitution.  Clay,  when  his  turn  came,  re 
torted  cleverly  amid  much  laughter  :  ' '  Now  with 
respect  to  lecturing  the  Senate,  it  is  an  office  which 
I  have  never  sought  to  fill.  There  are  many  rea 
sons  why  I  do  not  like  to  do  it.  In  giving  a  lecture, 
the  person  lecturing  ought  to  have  some  ability  to 
impart  instruction,  and  the  person  to  whom  it  is 
addressed  should  have  the  capacity  of  receiving  it. 
In  this  case,  as  between  the  senator  and  myself,  both 
of  these  conditions  are  wanting.  Therefore  I  do  not 
aspire  to  the  office  of  a  lecturer." 

Clay  was  in  the  midst  of  every  discussion  of  the 
slavery  question.  He  complained  often  of  the  de 
bilities  of  age,  but  when  spoken  of  they  seemed  to 
make  his  discourses  the  more  impressive.  It  is 
computed  that  in  this  debate  he  was  on  his  feet  no 
less  than  seventy  times.  His  activity  was  astound 
ing.  He  was  in  complete  control  of  the  situation  at 
a  period  when  the  Senate  had  never  held  so  many 
adroit,  active,  vigorous  leaders.  It  was  his  policy 
to  husband  his  resources  by  remaining  at  home  when 
the  one  great  question  was  not  under  discussion,  but 
it  seemed  to  be  almost  constantly  in  the  foreground. 
Yet  he  was  very  ill  and  the  strain  of  the  contest 
wore  upon  him  as  the  session  went  on,  day  by  day, 
through  the  hot  summer.  Filibustering  policies, 
which  he  deprecated,  were  adopted  and  the  sight  of 
the  old  statesman  moving  that  the  Senate  should 
meet  at  an  earlier  hour  in  the  morning  and  give 
more  time  to  the  great  work  in  hand,  was  one  to 
be  remembered.  He  was  feeding  his  life  out,  inch 


360  HENKY  CLAY 

by  inch,  in  his  patriotic  endeavor  to  restore  the 
harmony  of  the  republic. 

The  Nashville  Convention  of  June  met  and  dis 
solved  without  coming  to  those  dread  conclusions 
which  some  in  the  South  had  hoped  for  and  many , 
both  North  and  South,  had  feared.  On  the  9th  of 
July  President  Taylor  died  suddenly,  after  a  shoit 
illness,  and  the  Vice- President,  Millard  Fillmore, 
succeeded  to  his  place.  Both  of  these  events  strength  - 
ened  Clay's  position  in  reference  to  the  Compro 
mise.  The  cabinet  was  reorganized,  with  AVebster 
in  the  State  Department ;  the  administration  was 
now  friendly  and  willing  to  follow  a  middle  course. 

On  July  22d,  nearly  six  months  after  he  had  in 
troduced  his  resolutions,  the  time  came  for  his  clos 
ing  speech  upon  the  report  of  the  committee  of 
thirteen.  This  was  a  general  review  of  the  debate. 
It  was  another  great  oration,  taxing  Clay's  mental 
powers  and  his  physical  strength,  but  it  was  finished 
with  entire  credit  to  him,  and  with  advantage  to  the 
cause,  which  he  pursued  with  so  much  devotion. 
Including  the  interruptions  of  those  who  rose  to 
make  or  answer  objections,  it  consumed  a  day. 
Though  it  breathed  the  spirit  of  conciliation,  it  was 
full  of  vigorous  denunciation  of  the  ultraists,  for  it 
was  these  who,  as  Clay  well  understood,  were  the 
obstacles  to  the  fruition  of  his  plans.  He  spoke  of 
the  Abolitionists,  on  the  one  hand,  as  a  "  fanatic, 
desperate  band" — "men  who  if  their  power  was 
equal  to  their  malignity  would  seize  the  sun  of  this 
great  system  of  ours,  drag  it  from  the  position  in 
which  it  keeps  in  order  the  whole  planetary  bodies 
of  the  universe,  and  repluuge  the  world  in  chaos 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      361 

and  confusion  to  carry  out  their  single  idea."  On 
the  other  hand,  he  roundly  castigated  Jefferson 
Davis  for  having  said  that  New  Mexico  would  be 
good  ground  for  "the  breeding  of  slaves."  Such 
talk  would  do  "for  the  bar-rooms  of  cross-road  tav 
erns."  He  had  hoped  never  to  hear  it  on  the  floor 
of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  The  fire-eater 
Rhett  of  South  Carolina,  upon  his  return  from  the 
Nashville  Convention,  where  things  went  not  as  he 
desired,  had  raised  the  i  i  standard  of  rebellion  ' '  in 
Charleston.  Clay  did  not  neglect  him.  Barnwell, 
who  had  taken  Calhoun's  place  in  the  Senate,  un 
dertook  to  defend  his  friend.  Nothing  daunted 
Clay  replied  : 

"I  know  him  personally  and  have  some  respect 
for  him.  But  if  he  pronounced  the  sentiment  at 
tributed  to  him  of  raising  the  standard  of  disunion 
and  of  resistance  to  the  common  government,  what 
ever  he  has  been,  if  he  follows  up  that  declaration 
by  corresponding  overt  acts,  he  will  be  a  traitor 
and  I  hope  he  will  meet  the  fate  of  a  traitor." 

At  this  speech  there  was  so  much  applause  in  the 
galleries  that  the  chair  threatened  to  clear  them, 
reminding  the  audience  that  the  Senate  chamber 
was  not  a  theatre.  Clay  continued,  addressing  him 
self  to  South  Carolina  :  "I  do  not  regard  as  my 
duty  what  the  honorable  senator  seems  to  regard  as 
his.  If  Kentucky  to-morrow  unfurls  the  banner  of 
resistance  unjustly,  I  never  will  fight  under  that 
banner.  I  owe  a  paramount  allegiance  to  the  whole 
Union — a  subordinate  one  to  my  own  state.  .  .  . 
Spirited  as  she  [South  Carolina]  is,  spirited  as  she 
may  suppose  herself  to  be,  competent  as  she  may 


362  HENRY  CLAY 

thiuk  herself  to  wield  her  separate  power  against 
the  power  of  this  Union,  I  will  tell  her  and  I  will 
tell  the  senator  himself  that  there  are  as  brave,  as 
dauntless,  as  gallant  men  and  as  devoted  patriots  in 
every  other  state  of  the  Union  as  are  to  be  found  in 
South  Carolina  herself;  and,  if  in  any  unjust  cause 
South  Carolina  or  any  other  state  should  hoist  the 
flag  of  disunion  and  rebellion,  thousands,  tens  of 
thousands  of  Kentuekians  would  flock  to  the  stand 
ard  of  their  country  to  dissipate  and  repress  their 
rebellion.  These  are  my  sentiments — make  the 
most  of  them." 

In  summing  up  his  views  and  in  formulating  the 
appeal  to  his  fellow  senators  Clay  said  in  a  burst  of 
earnest  eloquence  : 

"I  believe  from  the  bottom  of  my  soul  that  the 
measure  is  the  reunion  of  this  Union.  I  believe 
that  it  is  the  dove  of  peace  which,  taking  its  aerial 
flight  from  the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  carries  the  glad 
tidings  of  assured  peace  and  restored  harmony  to  all 
the  remotest  extremities  of  this  distracted  laud.  I 
believe  that  it  will  be  attended  with  all  these  benefi 
cent  effects.  And  now  let  us  discard  all  resent 
ment,  all  passions,  all  petty  jealousies,  all  personal 
desires,  all  love  of  place,  all  hungering  after  the 
gilded  crumbs  which  fall  from  the  table  of  power. 
Let  us  forget  popular  fears  from  whatever  quarter 
they  spring.  Let  us  go  to  the  limpid  fountain  of 
unadulterated  patriotism,  and,  performing  a  solemn 
lustration,  return  divested  of  all  selfish,  sinister  and 
sordid  impurities,  and  think  alone  of  our  God,  our 
country,  our  consciences  and  our  glorious  Union  ; 
that  Union  without  which  we  shall  be  torn  into 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPEOMISE      363 

hostile  fragments  and  sooner  or  later  become  the 
victims  of  military  despotism  or  foreign  domina 
tion.  .  .  .  Sir,  we  have  heard  hard  words,  bitter 
words,  bitter  thoughts,  unpleasant  feelings  toward 
each  other  in  the  progress  of  this  great  measure. 
Let  us  forget  them.  Let  us  sacrifice  these  feelings. 
Let  us  go  to  the  altar  of  our  country  and  swear,  as 
the  oath  was  taken  of  old,  that  we  will  stand  by 
her  ;  we  will  support  her  ;  that  we  will  uphold  her 
Constitution  ;  that  we  will  preserve  her  Union,  and 
that  we  will  pass  this  great,  comprehensive  and 
healing  system  of  measures,  which  will  hush  all  the 
jarring  elements  and  bring  peace  and  tranquillity  to 
our  homes." 

It  was  foreseen  that  the  " Omnibus  Bill"  would 
be  defeated,  and  that  the  subjects  crowded  into  it 
would  be  taken  out  to  be  considered  separately. 
When  the  measure  came  to  a  vote  on  July  31st,  it 
had  been  so  much  disfigured  by  amendments  that 
there  was  nothing  left  of  it  but  a  scheme  of  terri 
torial  government  for  Utah.  It  seemed  for  a  mo 
ment  like  defeat,  and  Clay  on  the  following  day, 
August  1st,  spoke  with  much  spirit,  reaffirming  in 
still  stronger  terms  his  devotion  to  the  Union,  come 
what  might.  He  said  with  great  effect : 

1 1 1  stand  here  in  my  place,  meaning  to  be  unawed 
by  any  threats,  whether  they  come  from  individuals 
or  from  other  states.  I  should  deplore,  as  much  as 
any  man  living  or  dead,  that  arms  should  be  raised 
against  the  authority  of  the  Union,  either  by  indi 
viduals  or  by  states.  But  after  all  that  has  oc 
curred,  if  any  one  state,  or  a  portion  of  the  people 
of  any  state,  choose  to  place  themselves  in  military 


364  HENRY  CLAY 

array  against  the  government  of  the  Union,  I  am 
for  trying  the  strength  of  the  government,  I  am  for 
ascertaining  whether  we  have  got  a  government  or 
not — practical,  efficient,  capable  of  maintaining  its 
authority,  and  of  upholding  the  powers  and  inter 
ests  which  belong  to  a  government.  Nor,  sir,  am 
I  to  be  alarmed  or  dissuaded  from  any  such  course 
by  intimations  of  the  spilling  of  blood.  If  blood  is 
to  be  spilt,  by  whose  fault  is  it  to  be  spilt  f  Upon 
the  supposition,  I  maintain  it  will  be  the  fault  of 
those  who  choose  to  raise  the  standard  of  disunion 
and  endeavor  to  prostrate  this  government ;  and, 
sir,  when  that  is  done,  so  long  as  it  pleases  .God  to 
give  me  a  voice  to  express  my  sentiments,  or  an 
arm  weak  and  enfeebled  as  it  may  be  by  age,  that 
voice  and  that  arm.  will  be  on  the  side  of  my  coun 
try,  for  the  support  of  the  general  authority  and  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  powers  of  this  Union." 

This  speech  was  interrupted  and  followed  by  tre 
mendous  applause.  At  one  point  the  chair  asked 
Mr.  Clay  to  take  his  seat  for  a  moment.  He  again 
warned  the  crowds  in  the  galleries  that  it  was  not 
a  theatre  to  which  they  had  come.  Clay  himself 
urged  them  to  desist.  Walker  of  Wisconsin  said  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  him  to  hear  these  expressions  of 
approbation.  He  in  turn  was  asked  to  take  his 
seat,  and  Clay  resumed  his  patriotic  discourse.  He 
spoke  of  disunionist  demonstrations  at  earlier 
periods  in  the  history  of  the  country.  He  wished 
to  know  "  whether  we  are  bound  together  by  a  rope 
of  sand  or  an  effective  capable  government,  compe 
tent  to  enforce  the  powers  therein  vested  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States."  What  was  this 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE      365 

"  doctrine  of  nullification  "  I  "  That  when  a  single 
state  shall  undertake  to  say  that  a  law  passed  by 
the  twenty-nine  states  is  unconstitutional  and  void 
she  may  raise  the  standard  of  resistance  and  defy  the 
twenty-nine.  Sir,  I  denied  the  doctrine  twenty  years 
ago — I  deny  it  now — I  will  die  denying  it.  There 
is  no  such  principle.  If  a  state  chooses  to  assume 
the  attitude  of  defiance  to  the  sovereign  authority, 
and  set  up  a  separate  nation  against  the  nation  of 
twenty -nine  states,  it  takes  the  consequences  upon 
itself. " 

"  Gentlemen  lay  to  their  souls  the  flattering 
unction,"  he  said,  that  the  army  being  led  by 
Southern  officers  would  not  raise  an  arm  in  such  a 
contest  as  they  had  in  mind.  They  were  l  i  utterly 
mistaken."  He  was  told  the  story  of  Bernadette 
who,  when  he  came  to  the  confines  of  France,  re 
fused  to  invade  his  native  country.  As  for  him  he 
had  more  admiration  for  the  "  Roman  father,  who 
for  the  sake  of  Rome  condemned  and  caused  to  be 
executed  his  own  son  :  that  is  my  notion  of  liberty." 

A  senator  had  again  spoken  of  Virginia  as  Henry 
Clay's  country. 

"This  Union  is  my  country,"  he  retorted,  "the 
thirty  states  are  my  country  ;  Kentucky  is  my  coun 
try,  and  Virginia  no  more  than  any  other  of  the 
states  of  this  Union.  She  has  created  on  my  part 
obligations,  and  feelings,  and  duties  toward  her  in 
my  private  character  which  nothing  upon  earth 
would  induce  me  to  forfeit  or  violate.  But  even  if 
it  were  my  own  state — if  my  own  state  lawlessly, 
contrary  to  her  duty,  should  raise  the  standard  of 
disunion  against  the  residue  of  the  Union,  I  would 


366  HENRY  CLAY 

go  agaiDst  her.     I  would  go  against  Kentucky  her 
self  in  that  contingency,  much  as  I  love  her," 

These  invigorating  views,  breathing  the  very 
spirit  of  Federalism,  presented  with  all  the  author 
ity  of  a  man  whose  traditions  were  rooted  in  11  le 
age  of  Jefferson,  Madison  and  the  "fathers"  of 
Virginia,  and  the  period  of  whose  public  career  run 
back  into  that  era — presented,  too,  with  a  skill  and 
an  eloquence  which  no  speaker  could  surpass,  and 
with  an  earnestness  which  seemed  to  be,  as  it  was, 
draining  his  last  energies  and  advancing  his  life 
nearer  its  end,  produced  a  powerful  effect  upon  the 
Senate  and  that  immense  audience  outside,  Nor  h 
and  South,  and  East  and  West,  to  whom  his  words 
were  immediately  conveyed. 

The  "  Omnibus  Bill "  was  lost  and  it  seemed  like 
a  defeat,  but  it  was  really  a  great  victory.  Clay 
went  off  on  August  2d  to  enjoy  the  cool  airs  and  the 
sea-bathing  at  Newport.  In  his  absence  the  sepa 
rate  subjects  covered  by  his  resolutions,  which  had 
so  long  been  before  the  Senate,  were  taken  up  one 
by  one,  and  under  urgent  pressure  the  bills  fixing 
the  Texas  boundary,  admitting  California  into  the 
Union  as  a  free  state,  establishing  a  territorial  gov 
ernment  in  New  Mexico  without  any  condition  as 
to  slavery,  and  making  more  stringent  provisions 
in  regard  to  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  fugitive 
slaves  were  enacted  into  laws.  Clay  returned  1o 
Washington  late  in  August  to  find  that  his  entire 
programme  had  been  adopted,  except  the  bill  pro 
hibiting  thp  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
That  too  must  be  passed.  The  North  demanded  it. 
It  was  a  part  of  an  integral  whole,  and  Clay  led  in 


THE  LAST  GREAT  COMPROMISE     367 

the  prolonged  contest  for  its  enactment  in  a  number 
of  speeches  in  the  first  weeks  of  September.  For 
instance,  he  must  combat  the  statement  of  Senator 
Hunter  of  Virginia,  as  to  the  blessings  of  the  Afri 
can  slave  trade,  which  Mr.  Clay  said  had  met  "  with 
the  almost  unanimous  detestation  of  mankind. ' '  He 
did  not  bandy  words  in  explaining  to  the  Southern 
leaders  the  difference  between  a  law  to  abolish  the 
slave  trade  and  a  law  to  abolish  slavery  itself,  for 
which  the  Abolitionists  also  asked.  He  again  sug 
gested  that  if  the  gentlemen  who  opposed  the  meas 
ure  "  would  be  less  liable  to  take  alarm  upon  the 
slightest  circumstance,  and  not  be  dreading  every 
possible  occurrence  lest  it  should  touch  the  particu 
lar  institution  "  which  they  cherish  so  much,  they 
would,  in  his  belief,  "  add  safety  and  security  to 
that  institution  itself." 

This  bill,  too,  passed  at  length  and  the  Compro 
mise  of  1850,  after  not  dissimilar  struggles  in  the 
other  house,  was  complete.  This  remarkable  ses 
sion  of  Congress  finally  adjourned  on  September  30th 
and  Clay  was  enabled  to  return  to  l  i  Ashland, ' ' 
where,  as  he  wrote  his  son  Thomas,  on  September 
6th,  while  he  was  still  held  at  Washington  by  the 
exactions  of  senatorial  service,  * '  I  desire  to  be  more 
than  I  ever  did  in  my  life." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  LAST  TWO   YEARS 

IT  was  Clay's  sincere  hope  that  the  Compromise 
would  apply  to  the  nation's  open  wound,  the  heal 
ing  influences  which  he  believed  the  great  measure 
to  contain.  He  did  not  think  that  the  return  of 
health,  composure  and  good  feeling  would  be  instant. 
But  he  had  lived  through  the  Compromises  of  1821 
and  1833,  and  he  thought  that,  as  after  those  two 
accommodations,  better  counsels  would  soon  come  to 
prevail.  Some  "  ultra- Abolitionists  "  might  "  con 
tinue  to  agitate" — that  would  be  "  human  nature." 
"The  disappointed  party  are  always  mortified, 
vexed  and  irritated,"  said  he,  "  and  the  successful 
party  should  bear  with  a  great  deal.  But  the  peo 
ple  of  the  country  at  large,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  satisfied  with  this  series  of  measures. 
And  I  venture  to  say  that,  although  here  and  there 
a  voice  may  be  raised  to  excite  and  agitate,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  everywhere  rejoice  and  are  glad 
that  these  questions  have  been  settled."  l 

Clay,  of  course,  as  we  know  to-day,  erred  in  his 
judgment,  but  he  erred  with  entire  sincerity.  He 
saw  that  the  old  balance  between  the  free  and  the 
slave  states  must  cease  ;  that  slavery,  for  which  he 
had  no  love,  would  probably  at  some  time,  in  some 
way,  succumb.  Meantime,  come  what  might,  it 
1  Colton,  Vol.  VI,  p.  590. 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  369 

was  his  wish  to  keep  the  sections,  in  as  much  har 
mony  as  possible,  within  the  Union.  To  that  end 
he  put  forth  every  energy,  and  if  the  country  could 
have  gone  on  without  a  clash  of  arms,  his  would  still 
seem  to  be,  as  it  was  before  that  event,  one  of  the 
greatest  names  in  our  public  life.  The  war  came  to 
disturb  our  view  of  the  men  who  in  Clay's  age  gave 
their  all  to  avert  it,  making  way  in  popular  inter 
est  for  Lincoln  and  those  whose  service  consisted  in 
its  successful  prosecution.  It  was  Clay's  wish,  as 
he  told  the  Southern  hotspurs,  during  the  great  de 
bate  upon  the  Compromise,  not  to  live  to  witness 
this  "  heartrending  "  spectacle,  and  he  was  spared 
that  distress. 

In  the  middle  of  December,  1850,  he  was  again 
in  Washington,  ready  to  attend  upon  the  short 
session  of  Congress.  His  relations  with  President 
Fillmore  were,  as  he  said,  * '  perfectly  friendly  and 
confidential."  He  and  Webster  sat  side  by  side  at 
Jenny  Lind's  concert,  and  renewed  their  old  Whig 
friendships  on  many  occasions.  In  the  hope  of  con 
tributing  to  the  popular  calm,  which  the  Com 
promise  was  slow  to  restore,  a  declaration  and  pledge 
was  framed  for  general  circulation.  It  was  signed 
by  forty-four  prominent  members  of  the  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  Clay's  name  leading 
the  number.  It  ran  as  follows  : 

"The  undersigned  members  of  the  Thirty-first 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  believing  that  the  re 
newal  of  sectional  controversy  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery  would  be  both  dangerous  to  the  Union,  and 
destructive  of  its  peace,  and  seeing  no  mode  by 
which  such  controversy  can  be  avoided,  except  by 


370  HENRY  CLAY 

a  stout  adherence  to  the  settlement  thereof  effected 
by  the  Compromise  passed  at  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  do  hereby  declare  their  intention  to  main 
tain  the  said  settlement  inviolate,  and  to  resist  all 
attempts  to  repeal  or  alter  the  acts  aforesaid,  unless 
by  the  general  consent  of  the  friends  of  the  measure, 
and  to  remedy  such  evils,  if  any,  as  time  and  ex 
perience  may  develop.  And,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  this  resolution  effective,  they  further  de 
clare  that  they  will  not  support  for  the  office  of 
President,  or  Vice-President,  or  senator,  or  of 
representative  in  Congress,  or  as  member  of  a  state 
legislature,  any  man  of  whatever  party  who  is  not 
known  to  be  opposed  to  the  disturbance  aforesaid  ; 
and  to  the  renewal,  in  any  form,  of  agitation  upon 
the  subject  of  slavery  hereafter." 
"  Washington,  January  22,  1851.'' 

It  was  not  a  very  sound  or  substantial  peace  which 
needed  the  pledges  of  citizens  to  sustain  it.  In  the 
South,  the  echoes  of  the  Nashville  Convention  still 
reverberated  ;  in  the  North  the  free  negroes  were 
running  in  fright  from  the  "  man-hunters  "  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  while  the  Abolitionists  daily 
grew  in  determination  and  strength. 

Clay  continued  to  denounce  them  impartially  :— 
the  Northern  disunionists,  as  he  regarded  them,  on 
the  one  hand,  by  whom  he  was  brought  to  account  by 
members  like  Hale  and  Chase  ;  and  the  Southern 
disuniouists  on  the  other,  whose  leading  spokesman 
was  Knett,  now  sent  to  the  Senate  by  South 
Carolina  as  a  reward  for  his  rebellious  utterances. 
They  were  alike  engaged  in  the  work  of  trying  to 
defeat  the  purposes  of  the  Compromise.  The  Shad- 
rach  case,  involving  the  rescue  of  a  fugitive  slave  by 
a  mob  in  Boston  from  the  hands  of  a  deputy  marshal, 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  371 

who  designed  to  carry  him  back  to  the  South,  called 
out  a  proclamation  and  a  message  from  President 
Fillniore,  and  excited  debates  in  Congress  in  which 
Clay  took  an  active  part  with  his  old  skill  and 
fervor. 

But  it  was  a  fruitless  exercise,  and  it  was  all,  as 
he  too  well  realized,  a  cry  for  peace  when,  yet  at 
least,  there  was  no  peace.  It  was  his  desire  to  bring 
the  Senate  back  to  the  old  Whig  policies  ;  so  he 
spoke  as  in  the  past,  on  such  subjects  as  the  tariff 
and  internal  improvements,  though  with  little  suc 
cess,  and  the  session  came  to  an  end. 

Mr.  Clay's  cough  did  not  grow  better  and  when 
the  Senate  adjourned  in  March,  he  contemplated  re 
turning  home  by  way  of  Cuba  and  New  Orleans. 
This  was  especially  urged  upon  him  because  of  the 
condition  of  the  Cumberland  Koad,  at  that  season  of 
the  year  almost  impassable  for  horse  or  man.  He 
sailed  from  New  York  for  the  softer  Caribbean  airs 
and  was  in  "  Ashland"  again  in  April,  "  highly 
gratified  "  with  his  visit  to  that  "  delightful  island," 
which  was  his  description  of  Cuba.  However,  he 
gained  little.  On  the  way  he  wrote  to  his  son 
James,  who  had  lately  returned  from  the  mission  to 
Lisbon,  a  post  which  his  father  had  been  able  to 
secure  for  him,  that  he  was  "  much  reduced  and  en 
feebled."  u  I  must  get  rid  of  the  cough,"  he  said, 
"or  it  will  dispose  of  me."  He  eagerly  looked  for 
ward  to  the  warm  weather  of  summer  hoping  that  it 
would  restore  him  to  comfort  and  strength.  His 
friends  still  had  the  wish  to  make  him  the  Whig 
leader  in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1852,  but  he 
discouraged  the  movement. 


372  HENRY  CLAY 

To  James  HarlaD,  in  1850,  Mr.  Clay  wrote  :  "It 
would  be  great  folly  iu  me  at  my  age,  with  the  un 
certainty  of  life,  and  with  a  recollection  of  all  the 
past,  to  say  now  that  I  would  under  any  contin 
gencies  be  a  candidate.  ...  I  have  already 
publicly  declared  that  I  entertained  no  wish  or  ex 
pectation  of  being  a  candidate,  and  I  would  solemnly 
proclaim  that  I  never  would  be,  under  any  circum 
stances  whatever,  if  I  did  not  think  that  no  citizen 
has  a  right  thus  absolutely  to  commit  himself.'7 1 

To  a  friend  who,  in  April,  1851,  condoled  with 
him  over  the  nomination  of  General  Taylor  in  1848, 
he  said  that  "  it  had  now  for  him  no  other  than  an 
historical  interest."  Had  he  been  the  nominee,  he 
was  confident  that  he  would  have  secured  every 
electoral  vote  given  to  Taylor,  and  Ohio  certainly 
and  Indiana  possibly,  besides.  His  majority  in 
Pennsylvania  would  have  exceeded  Taylor's.2 

In  June,  1851,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Daniel  Ull- 
man,  of  New  York,  to  say  that  he  had  not  changed 
his  mind  on  the  subject  of  a  further  candidacy. 
"Considering  my  age,  the  delicate  state  of  my 
health,  the  frequency  and  the  unsuccessful  presen 
tation  of  my  name  on  former  occasions,  I  feel  an 
unconquerable  repugnance  to  such  a  use  of  it  again. 
I  cannot,  therefore,  consent  to  it.  I  have  been 
sometimes  tempted  publicly  to  announce  that  under 
no  circumstances  would  I  yield  my  consent  to  be 
brought  forward  as  a  candidate.  But  I  have  been 
restrained  from  taking  that  step  by  two  consider 
ations.  The  first  was  that  I  did  not  see  any  such 
general  allusion  to  me,  as  a  suitable  person  for  the 

1  Private  Correspondence, 'pp.  605-606.  22bid.,  p.  615. 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEAES  373 

office,  as  to  make  it  proper  that  I  should  break 
silence  aiid  speak  out ;  aud  the  second  was  that  I 
have  always  thought  that  no  citizen  has  a  right  to 
ostracize  himself,  and  to  refuse  public  service  under 
all  possible  contingencies.'7 

He  thought  it  quite  clear  that  a  Democrat  would 
be  elected  in  the  ensuing  year.  As  for  him,  if  the 
choice  must  fall  to  a  Democrat,  he  would  prefer 
General  Cass,  who  was  in  his  opinion  quite  as  able, 
quite  as  firm  and  possessed  of  "  much  more  honesty 
aud  sincerity  than  Mr.  Buchanan."  Another  ques 
tion  was  coming  forward  in  spite  of  the  Compro 
mise.  It  would  involve  "  the  right  of  any  one  of 
the  states  of  the  Union  upon  its  own  separate  will 
aud  pleasure  to  secede  from  the  residue,  and  become 
a  distinct  and  separate  power.  .  .  .  For  my 
own  part  I  utterly  deny  the  existence  of  any  such 
right,  and  I  think  an  attempt  to  exercise  it  ought  to 
be  resisted  to  the  last  extremity  ;  for  it  is,  in  part, 
a  question  of  union  or  no  union." 

Still  plainer  were  his  words  in  a  letter  from 
"  Ashland"  to  Thomas  B.  Stevenson  on  May  17, 
1851: 

"  You  ask  what  is  to  be  done  if  South  Carolina 
secedes.  I  answer  unhesitatingly  that  the  Consti 
tution  and  laws  of  the  United  States  must  continue 
to  be  enforced  therewith  all  the  power  of  the  Union, 
if  necessary.  Secession  is  treason ;  and  if  it  were 
not — if  it  were  a  legitimate  and  rightful  exercise  of 
power — it  would  be  a  virtual  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  For  if  one  state  may  secede,  every  state 
may  secede  ;  and  how  long  in  such  a  state  of  things 
could  we  be  kept  together?  Suppose  Kentucky 


374  HENEY  CLAY 

were  to  secede  t  Could  the  rest  of  the  Union  toler 
ate  a  foreign  power  in  their  very  bosom  ?  There 
are  those  who  think  the  Union  must  be  preserved 
and  kept  together  by  an  exclusive  reliance  upon 
love  and  reason.  That  is  uot  niy  opinion.  I  have 
some  confidence  in  this  instrumentality  ;  but  de 
pend  upon  it,  that  no  human  government  can  exist 
without  the  power  of  applying  force,  and  the  actual 
application  of  it  in  extreme  cases." 

The  Compromise  needed  Clay's  voice  in  its  sup 
port  in  all  parts  of  the  Union,  but  he  was  unable  to 
respond  to  the  calls  upon  him.  A  committee  of 
citizens  of  New  York  urgently  invited  him  to  visit 
that  state.  He  sent  them  a  letter  asking  for  a  con 
currence  in  the  principles  of  the  Compromise,  in 
cluding  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  which  was  a  part 
of  the  whole.  There  must  be  good  faith  in  the  en 
forcement  of  that  measure  in  order  to  make  certain 
of  the  adherence  of  the  South.  But  he  did  not  neg 
lect  the  radicals,  the  uullifiers  and  seceders  of  that 
section  who  were  also  so  much  at  fault.  Indeed^ 
they  were  the  principal  objects  of  his  attention.  If 
they  made  any  attempt  to  execute  their  theories,  he 
repeated  that  "  the  power,  the  authority  and  the 
dignity  of  the  government  ought  to  be  maintained, 
aud  resistance  put  down  at  every  hazard." 

After  dwelling  upon  the  excellencies  of  the  gov 
ernment  under  the  Union,  he  continued:  "To  re 
volt  against  such  a  government  for  anything  which 
has  passed  would  be  so  atrocious,  and  characterized 
by  such  extreme  folly  and  madness,  that  we  may 
search  in  vain  for  an  example  of  it  in  human 
annals.  We  can  look  for  its  prototype  only  (if  1 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  375 

may  be  pardoned  the  allusion)  to  that  diabolical 
revolt  which,  recorded  on  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ, 
has  been  illustrated  and  commemorated  by  the 
sublime  genius  of  the  immortal  Milton." 

As  the  time  for  the  opening  of  the  next  Congress 
approached,  Mr.  Clay's  health  was  not  sensibly 
better,  but  he  went  to  Washington  in  December, 
1851,  returning  to  his  rooms  at  the  National  Hotel. 
Horace  Greeley  came  to  speak  of  the  asperities  of 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  which  Clay  sincerely  re 
gretted,  and  which  he  would  have  fought  to  exclude, 
if  he  had  not  been  absent  at  Newport  when  the  bill 
was  passed  by  the  Senate.  Louis  Kossuth,  who  was 
brought  over  in  a  United  States  man-of-war  to  re 
ceive  much  public  attention,  also  visited  Clay,  re 
membered  by  the  Hungarian  patriots  as  the  friend 
of  the  South  Americans  and  of  struggling  Greece. 
The  old  statesman  had  been  mellowed  by  time  and 
experience,  and  he  spoke  cautiously.  Sympathy 
he  did  not  grudge  the  Hungarians,  but  he  saw  the 
futility,  danger  and  wrong  of  holding  out  the  pros 
pect  of  anything  more.  He  spoke  of  the  coup  d'etat 
of  Louis  Napoleon,  on  December  2,  1851,  and  in  the 
light  of  this  event  despaired  of  "  any  present  suc 
cess  for  liberal  institutions  in  Europe."  "  Far  bet 
ter  is  it  for  ourselves,  for  Hungary  and  for  the  cause 
of  liberty,"  he  continued,  "  that,  adhering  to  our 
wise,  pacific  system  and  avoiding  the  distant  wars 
of  Europe,  we  should  keep  our  lamp  burning 
brightly  on  this  Western  shore,  as  a  light  to  all 
nations,  than  to  hazard  its  utter  extinction  amid  the 
ruins  of  fallen  and  falling  republics  in  Europe." 

At  this  session  he  was  able  to  visit  the  Senate 


376  HENRY  CLAY 

chamber  only  once,  when  he  made  a  few  remarks  on 
an  unimportant  topic.  On  Christmas  Day,  1852, 
he  wrote  to  his  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Thomas  H. 
Clay,  urging  his  family  not  to  feel  alarmed  as  to  his 
condition.  If  there  were  a  turn  for  the  worse,  he 
would  immediately  notify  them  by  telegraph.  He 
had  all  that  he  could  need, — tempting  food,  kind 
friends  and  expert  medical  attention,  which,  how 
ever,  failed  to  relieve  the  cough  that  racked  his 
frame  and  enfeebled  him.  There  was  "  no  prospect 
at  present  of  immediate  dissolution."  He  thought 
that  he  would  live  for  some  months,  "long  enough 
perhaps  to  reach  home  once  more." 

His  friends,  in  truth,  were  the  soul  of  devotion  to 
his  every  wish  and  requirement,  and  those  who 
could  not  come  conveyed  to  him  their  sympathy  by 
letter,  and  offered  to  present  themselves  to  assist  in 
nursing  him,  or  to  do  whatever  his  comfort  could 
command.  The  winter  was  a  very  rigorous  one  in 
Washington,  and  the  invalid  often  missed  his  daily 
drives  because  of  the  weather,  which  continued  in 
clement  until  late  in  April.  His  New  York  friends 
sent  him  a  handsome  medal  of  pure  California  gold, 
containing  his  head  in  high  relief  on  one  side,  and 
a  brief  recital  of  his  principal  public  acts  on  the 
other.  It  was  enclosed  in  a  silver  case,  and  was  at 
once  a  handsome  and  an  interesting  tribute  which 
touched  him  deeply.  The  Colonization  Society 
adopted  a  resolution  of  sympathy  and  reflected  him 
its  president.  On  March  14th  he  wrote  to  his  son 
James  that  his  condition  was  "stationary,"  except 
that  he  could  get  no  sound,  refreshing  sleep,  even 
with  the  use  of  an  opiate  nightly.  He  had  taken 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  377 

" immense  quantities  of  drugs"  without  sensible 
benefit.  The  frequent  letters  which  reached  him 
from  home  afforded  him  much  satisfaction  and  he 
had  the  intention  of  returning  to  Lexington,  if 
strength  were  allowed  him,  in  May  or  June. 

His  interest  in  political  matters  did  not  at  all 
abate,  and  he  was  conferred  with  and  gave  his 
opinion  freely  on  the  subject  of  the  nomination  of 
the  Whig  party  for  President,  which  was  to  be  made 
in  convention  at  Baltimore,  on  June  10th.  He 
favored  Fillmore  as  against  either  Webster  or  Scott, 
who  were  the  leading  candidates,  since  he  seemed 
more  likely  to  be  acceptable  in  both  sections,  and 
promised  to  steer  the  middle  course  necessary  to  a 
maintenance  of  the  principles  of  the  Compromise. 
"The  foundation  of  my  preference  is,"  he  wrote, 
"that  Mr.  Fillmore  has  administered  the  executive 
government  with  signal  success  and  ability.  He  has 
been  tried  and  found  true,  faithful,  honest  and  con 
scientious.  ...  I  think  that  prudence  and 
wisdom  had  better  restrain  us  from  making  any 
change  without  a  necessity  for  it,  the  existence  of 
which  I  do  not  now  perceive." 

Late  in  April  he  telegraphed  for  his  son  Thomas, 
who  went  to  Washington  at  once,  and  who  soon 
wrote  home  that  "there  is  no  longer  any  hope  of 
his  reaching  Kentucky  alive. ' '  His  father  could  not 
talk  for  five  minutes  at  a  time  without  exhaustion. 
Yet  his  mind  was  clear  and  his  interest  in  public 
affairs  was  unabated.  All  through  these  weary  days 
his  patience  and  cheerfulness  never  failed.  "No 
clouds  overhung  his  future,"  said  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge  in  his  eulogy  in  the  House  after  the  great 


378  HEKKY  CLAY 

statesman's  death.  ''He  met  the  end  with  com 
posure  and  his  pathway  to  the  grave  was  brightened 
by  the  immortal  hopes  which  spring  from  the  Chris 
tian  faith."1 

•'Glorious  as  was  his  life,"  said  John  J.  Critten- 
den,  "there  was  nothing  that  became  him  like  the 
leaving  it.  I  saw  him  frequently  during  the  slow 
and  lingering  disease  which  terminated  his  life.  He 
was  conscious  of  his  approaching  end,  and  prepared 
to  meet  it  with  all  the  resignation  and  fortitude  of  a 
Christian  hero.  He  was  all  patience,  meekness,  and 
gentleness.  These  shone  around  him  like  a  mild, 
celestial  light  breaking  upon  him  from  another 
world.  And  to  add  greater  honors  to  his  age  than 
man  can  give,  he  died  fearing  God."  2 

"  Was  there  ever  man  had  such  friends  !  "  he  ex 
claimed  again  and  again,  as  tokens  of  their  sym 
pathy  and  kindness  came  to  him  from  all  sides. 
The  case  seemed  to  defy  the  intelligent  diagnosis  of 
the  medical  practice  of  that  day.  The  physicians  in 
sisted  that  the  cough  was  not  due  to  any  affection  of 
the  lungs.  He  lingered  on  into  June,  when  the 
heat  added  to  his  oppression.  He  gradually  grew 
more  and  more  feeble  until  it  amazed  all  who  were 
around  him  how  he  could  live  in  his  condition  of 
extreme  debility.  Finally,  on  the  morning  of  June 
29th,  the  end  was  seen  to  be  near.  Thomas  Clay  was 
summoned  to  his  bedside.  "  Sit  near  me,  my  dear 
son,"  he  said,  "I  do  not  wish  you  to  leave  me  for 
any  time  to-day."  He  asked  for  water.  "I  be 

1  Eulogy  on  Henry  Clay  iu  the  House  of  Representatives, 
Jnne  :?(),  1852,  by  John  C.  Breekinridge. 

*"  Address  on  the  Life  and  Death  of  Henry  Clay,"  delivered 
at  Louisville,  September  29,  1852,  by  John  J.  Critteuden. 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEAKS  379 

lieve,  ray  son,  I  am  going,"  he  added  in  a  few  mo 
ments.  He  took  Ms  sou's  hand,  holding  it  for  some 
time.  When  he  released  it,  it  was  discovered  that 
he  was  dying.  Others  were  summoned  to  the  bed 
side  and  at  seventeen  minutes  past  eleven  life 
ceased. 

He  had  had  many  "  progresses "  through  the 
country  in  life  ;  he  would  have  another  as  the 
corse  was  conveyed  to  Kentucky.  "Oh,  how 
sickening  is  the  splendid  pageantry  I  have  to  go 
through  from  this  to  Lexington,"  wrote  Thomas 
Clay  to  his  wife  ;  and  it  was  a  harrowing  experience 
for  a  son,  however  well  the  ceremonies  were  intended. 
The  Senate  met  at  twelve  o'clock.  The  news  had 
reached  it  in  the  form  of  a  rumor  on  the  street  and 
it  immediately  adjourned.  The  House  also  ad 
journed,  after  the  reading  of  the  journal.  President 
Fillmore,  amid  the  general  tolling  of  bells,  closed  the 
government  departments. 

The  next  day  cabinet  officers,  foreign  ambas 
sadors,  members  of  the  House,  and  many  others 
made  their  way  to  the  Senate  chamber  where  the 
eulogies  were  to  be  pronounced.  The  death  was 
announced  by  Mr.  Clay's  colleague,  Joseph  E.  Un 
derwood,  who  added  a  tribute,  and  offered  resolu 
tions  embodying  a  proposal  that  a  committee  of  six 
be  appointed  to  superintend  the  funeral  in  Wash 
ington,  which  was  set  for  the  following  day,  July  1st. 
He  suggested  further  that  another  committee  of  six 
be  named  to  accompany  the  remains  to  the  place  of 
sepulture,  which  Mr.  Clay  had  selected,  the  ceme 
tery  where  many  of  his  friends  and  relations  were 
buried  in  Lexington,  Ky.  Speeches  from  General 


380  HENEY  CLAY 

Cass,  Eobert  M.  Hunter,  Jolm  P.  Hale,  William  H. 
Seward,  George  W.  Joiies  and  others  followed, 
whereupon  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  the 
Senate  adjourned.  There  were  similar  proceedings 
in  the  House. 

The  next  day  the  members  of  both  houses,  the 
authorities  of  the  city  of  Washington,  several  mili 
tary  companies, — all  together  a  large  concourse 
of  people, — accompanied  the  remains  from  the 
National  Hotel  to  the  Senate  chamber  where,  in  the 
presence  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  a 
very  distinguished  company,  the  funeral  services 
were  held.  Dr.  Butler,  the  chaplain  of  the  Senate, 
spoke  from  the  text—"  How  is  the  strong  staff 
broken  and  the  beautiful  rod!"  The  scenes  at 
Washington  were  being  repeated  all  over  the  laud. 
Dr.  Butler  said : 

"For  more  than  a  thousand  miles — East,  West, 
North  and  South — it  is  known  and  remembered  that 
at  this  place  and  hour,  a  nation's  representatives 
assemble  to  do  honor  to  him  whose  fame  is  now  a 
nation's  heritage.  A  nation's  mighty  heart  throbs 
against  this  Capitol,  and  beats  through  you.  In 
many  cities  banners  droop,  bells  toll,  cannons  boom, 
funereal  draperies  wave.  In  crowded  streets  and 
on  sounding  wharves,  upon  steamboats  and  upon 
cars,  in  fields  and  in  workshops,  in  homes,  in 
schools,  millions  of  men,  women  and  children  have 
their  thoughts  fixed  upon  this  scene  and  say  mourn 
fully  to  each  other,  'This  is  the  hour  in  which,  at 
the  Capitol,  the  nation's  representatives  are  bury 
ing  Henry  Clay  !  Burying  Henry  Clay  ! '  Bury 
the  records  of  your  country's  history — bury  the 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEAES  381 

hearts  of  living  millions — bury  the  mountains,  the 
rivers,  the  lakes,  and  the  spreading  lauds  from  sea 
to  sea,  with  which  his  name  is  inseparably  associ 
ated,  and  even  then  you  could  not  bury  Henry  Clay 
— for  he  lives  in  other  lands  and  speaks  in  other 
tongues,  and  to  other  times  than  ours."  l 

After  these  rites  were  said,  the  cortege  proceeded, 
by  a  railway  train,  appropriately  draped  in  black, 
to  Baltimore,  on  its  way  to  Lexington,  through 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Albany,  Utica,  Syracuse, 
Eochester,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cincin 
nati,  Louisville  and  Frankfort.  At  these,  and 
many  intermediate  places,  thousands  upon  thou 
sands  of  people  assembled  to  pay  their  last  honors 
to  the  great  statesman.  The  newspapers  of  the  land, 
the  pulpit,  and  secular  associations  of  many  kinds 
throughout  these  days  poured  out  their  tributes, 
which  were  everywhere  warm,  affectionate  and  full 
of  praise.  In  Philadelphia,  where  the  arrival  was 
at  night,  a  procession  headed  by  torches  was  formed, 
and  the  iron  coffin  was  borne  to  the  State  House  to 
remain  until  morning  under  the  guard  of  the 
Washington  Grays,  a  prominent  local  military 
company. 

"The  whole  population  here,"  it  is  said,  " ap 
peared  to  be  gathered  on  the  line  of  inarch,  and  a 
deep,  reverent,  eloquent  silence,  like  the  silence  of 
death  itself,  pervaded  the  mighty  multitude  ;  above 
it  all,  rendered  more  audible  and  impressive  by  the 
contrast,  was  heard  the  slow,  measured  tread  of  the 
long  funeral  train,  the  tolling  bells,  the  booming 

1  Obsequies  of  Henry  Clay,  printed  by  the  Common  Council  of 
New  York. 


382  HENRY  CLAY 

minute  gnn  and  the  mournful  roll  of  the  muflled 
drum."  ' 

The  next  day  thousands  of  people  viewed  the 
coffin,  and  the  journey  was  continued  by  steamboat 
and  railway  to  New  York.  There  the  body  of  the 
lamented  statesman  was  deposited  in  the  Governor's 
Room  at  the  City  Hall,  to  remain  over  Sunday, 
which,  as  it  happened,  was  the  Fourth  of  July.  It 
is  said  that  100,000  persons  at  least  paid  their  re 
spects  to  the  dead,  all  classes  coming  and  going-  in 
solemn  silence,  as  though  they  were  attending  the 
funeral  of  a  beloved  friend.  The  departure  from 
New  York  was  effected  on  Monday  morning.  As 
the  procession  reached  the  boat,  the  band  played 
"Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot,"  and  there 
was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  assemblage. 

On  the  way  up  the  Hudson  the  bell  of  the  steamer 
constantly  tolled,  and  boats  which  were  met  stopped, 
lowered  their  flags  and  sounded  their  bells.  The 
shores  of  the  river  everywhere  exhibited  flags  at 
half-mast,  funeral  arches,  tolling  bells,  booming 
cannon  and  sorrowing  people.  Stops  were  made  at 
some  of  the  towns  when  the  assembled  crowds  were 
allowed  to  come  on  board  to  view  the  coffin. 

Thus  the  cortege  continued  on  its  way,  amid  every 
sign  of  popular  mourning,  until  it  reached  Lexing 
ton.  Women,  who  everywhere  were  generally 
dressed  in  black,  wept  and  kissed  the  sable  vest 
ments  hung  around  the  coffin.  Strong  men  stood 
beside  it  and  burst  into  uncontrollable  sobs.  At 
sunset  on  Friday,  July  9th,  the  committee  of  the 
Senate  formally  transferred  the  remains,  by  this 

1  Obsequies. 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEARS  383 

time  buried  in  flowers,  wreaths  and  other  emblems 
of  the  populace's  attachment,  made  of  cypress,  ivy 
and  laurel,  to  a  committee  of  citizens.  The  chair 
man  of  the  senatorial  delegation,  Clay's  colleague, 
Mr.  Underwood,  on  this  occasion  said  : 

"  Our  journey  since  we  left  Washington  has  been 
a  continued  procession.  Everywhere  the  people 
have  pressed  forward  to  manifest  their  feelings 
toward  the  illustrious  dead.  Delegations  from 
cities,  towns  and  villages  have  waited  on  us.  The 
pure  and  the  lovely,  the  mothers  and  daughters  of 
the  land,  as  we  passed,  covered  the  coffin  with  gar 
lands  of  flowers,  and  bedewed  it  with  tears.  It  has 
been  no  triumphal  procession  in  honor  of  a  living 
man,  stimulated  by  hopes  of  reward.  It  has  been 
the  voluntary  tribute  of  a  free  and  grateful  people 
to  the  glorious  dead.". 

The  speech  in  reply  was  made  by  Chief-Justice 
Robertson,  chairman  of  the  Lexington  Committee, 
whereupon  a  procession,  preceded  by  a  cavalcade 
of  horsemen,  was  formed.  Lighted  by  torches,  it 
passed  under  the  arches  erected  in  honor  of  the  dead 
statesman,  whose  life  had  brought  so  much  renown 
to  the  city  and  the  state,  out  to  "  Ashland,"  where 
Mrs.  Clay  and  the  members  of  the  family  awaited 
its  arrival. 

The  next  day,  Saturday,  July  10th,  was  set  for 
the  funeral.  Crowds  came  from  all  parts  of  Ken 
tucky.  The  services  were  in  charge  of  Rev.  Edward 
F.  Berkley,  Rector  of  Christ  Church  in  Lexington, 
by  whom  Mr.  Clay  had  been  baptized,  and  whose 
church  he  regularly  attended  when  he  was  at  home. 
The  long  procession  was  then  formed  and  the  re- 


384  HENEY  CLAY 

mains  were  taken  to  the  spot  where  they  were  to 
sleep  in  the  cemetery  west  of  the  city.1 

The  large  square  funeral  car  was  specially  designed 
under  the  direction  of  the  citizens  of  Lexington.  It 
was  drawn  by  eight  horses,  handsomely  caparisoned, 
the  cloth  covering  them  being  fringed  with  silver 
bullion.  Each  animal  was  led  by  a  black  groom  in 
the  funeral  costume  of  the  Moors. 

The  body  was  temporarily  interred  in  Mr.  Clay's 
lot  beside  his  mother's  grave  until  a  suitable  tomb 
could  be  erected.  This  came  in  the  form  of  a 
Corinthian  column  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
high  built  of  Kentucky  granite.  To  the  crypt 
underneath  this  imposing  shaft  the  remains  were  re 
moved  and  placed  in  a  marble  sarcophagus  which 
was  the  gift  of  a  devoted  friend  John  Struthers  of 
Philadelphia.  They  now  repose  there  beside  Mrs. 
Clay's,  her  death  having  occurred  in  1864.  On  the 
sarcophagus  are  chiseled  these  words  from  Mr. 
Clay's  farewell  address  to  the  Senate  : 

"I  can,  with  unshaken  confidence,  appeal  to  the 
Divine  Arbiter  for  the  truth  of  the  declaration  that 
I  have  been  influenced  by  no  impure  purpose,  no 
personal  motive,  have  sought  no  personal  aggran 
dizement,  but  that,  in  all  my  public  acts,  I  have  had 


1  The  day  before  his  death  he  had  said  to  his  friend  and  col 
league,  Mr.  Underwood,  who  sat  beside  him  :  "  There  may  be 
some  question  where  rny  remains  shall  be  buried.  Some  per 
sons  may  designate  Frankfort.  I  wish  to  repose  in  the  cemetery 
in  Lexington,  where  many  of  my  friends  and  connections  are 
buried." 

He  had  said  in  his  farewell  address  to  the  Senate,  March  31, 
1842:  "When  the  last  scene  shall  forever  close  upon  us,  I 
hope  that  my  earthly  remains  will  be  laid  under  her  [Ken 
tucky's]  green  sod  with  those  of  her  gallant  and  patriotic  sons. " 


THE  LAST  TWO  YEAES  385 

a  sole  and  single  eye,  and  a  warm,  devoted  heart, 
directed  and  dedicated  to  what,  in  my  best  judg 
ment,  I  believed  to  be  the  true  interests  of  my 
country." 

New  York  City,  which  had  always  been  a  centre 
for  Mr.  Clay's  admirers,  prepared  special  memorial 
ceremonies  for  July  20th.  There  was  a  handsome 
funeral  car  bearing  a  banner  of  white  silk  upon 
which  these  words  were  embroidered  in  black  : 

"Hearts  which  glow  for  freedom's  sway 
Come  and  mourn  for  Heury  Clay." 

The  procession  included  state  and  city  officials  from 
New  York  and  neighboring  states  and  cities,  militia 
companies  and  other  societies.  It  moved  in  fifteen 
divisions  and  was  the  greatest  pageant  which  up  to 
that  time  had  ever  taken  place  in  New  York.  It 
was  marked  by  much  solemn  it  y  and  an  outpouring  of 
sincere  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  people.  The  cere 
monies  were  concluded  by  an  oration  in  the  Park. 

Thus  Mr.  Clay's  career  came  to  an  end  in  the 
midst  of  his  country's  trials,  which  it  had  been  his 
self-sacrificing  task  at  Washington  for  the  last 
months  of  his  life  to  try  in  some  way  to  allay.  Well 
indeed  was  it  said,  upon  his  funeral  day  in  Lexing 
ton,  that,  "if  in  future  any  one  section  of  this  great 
republic  should  be  arrayed  in  hostility  against  an 
other,"  the  "  Genius  of  Liberty  "  should  come  down 
11  in  anguish  and  in  tears,  and  throwing  herself 
prostrate  before  his  tomb  implore  the  Mighty 
Euler  of  nations  ...  to  raise  up  from  his 
ashes  another  Clay."  ' 

1  Last  Seven  Years,  p.  449. 


386  HENEY  CLAY 

May  he  not  seem  to  have  presented  himself  in  the 
person  of  Abraham  Lincoln  !  Though  Mr.  Clay  be 
looked  upon  as  the  man  of  compromise,  he  never 
stepped  aside  as  much  as  a  hair's  breadth  when  the 
safety  of  the  Union  was  at  stake.1  His  ringing 
speeches  of  1850  surpass  in  devotion  to  the  govern 
ment  the  utterances  of  the  Republican  leaders  who 
came  upon  the  scene  ten  years  later.  Can  any  one 
believe  for  a  moment  that  Clay,  if  his  life  had  been 
cast  in  the  later  decades  of  the  century,  would  have 
abated  the  least  particle  of  his  patriotic  faith  f 

1  "In  the  character  of  Henry  Clay,  that  which  will  commend 
him  most  to  posterity  is  his  love  of  the  Union,  or,  to  take  a 
more  comprehensive  form  of  expression,  his  patriotism,  his  love 
for  his  country,  his  love  for  his  whole  country.  He  repeatedly 
declares  in  his  letters  that  on  crossing  the  ocean  to  serve  in  a 
foreign  land,  every  tie  of  party  was  forgotten,  and  that  he  knew 
himself  only  as  an  American.  At  home  he  could  be  impetuous, 
swift  in  decision,  unflinching,  of  an  imperative  will,  and  yet  in 
his  action  as  a  guiding  statesman,  whenever  measures  came  up 
that  threatened  to  rend  the  continent  in  twain,  he  was  inflex 
ible  in  his  resolve  to  uphold  the  Constitution  and  the  Union." 
—"A  Few  Words  about  Henry  Clay,"  by  George  Bancroft, 
Century  Magazine,  July,  18P5,  p.  481. 


CHAPTEK  XIY 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

THE  personality  of  every  important  character  in 
history  forms  an  interesting  study,  and  a  knowledge 
of  Henry  Clay's  is  more  than  usually  essential  be 
cause  so  much  of  all  that  he  was  was  bound  up  with 
this  personality. 

He  was  preeminently  an  orator.  His  influence 
grew  out  of  his  extraordinary  gift  of  public  speech. 
As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  could  sway  large 
audiences,  winning  them  to  laughter,  moving  them 
to  tears,  arousing  them  to  action,  he  was  destined  to 
occupy  a  great  place  in  our  public  life.  It  is  fre 
quently  said  that  this  is  not  an  age  of  oratory,  and 
that  results  are  achieved  by  more  rapid  and,  as  a 
rule,  more  brutal  processes.  If  this  be  taken  to 
mean  that  it  is  an  age  which  is  not  conducive  to  the 
development  of  oratory,  the  charge  is  unquestion 
ably  true.  It  is  probable  that  a  man  with  a  like 
gift  in  this  day — if  there  should  be  another — would 
think  it  not  worth  his  while  to  devote  his  talents  to 
such  a  use.  He  would  seek  the  greater  gains  to  be 
reaped  from  business  or  law.  He  would  despair  of 
our  public  life  from  which  the  graces  and  amenities 
of  debate,  the  reasoning  habit  and  the  high  stand 
ards  of  constitutional  disquisition  have  largely  de 
parted,  and  he  would  not  train  himself  for  oratory. 

While  all  this  is  probably  true,  it  is  undeniable 


388  HENEY  CLAY 

that,  if  such  an  orator  as  Henry  Clay  should  appear 
upon  the  scene,  every  one  would  stop  to  hear  him. 
Money  getting  could  be  postponed  and  all  those  in 
terests  which  absorb  Americans  of  this  day,  mak 
ing  them  impatient  in  argument  and  eager  to  reach 
their  ends  rapidly,  would  be  sent  to  the  background, 
while  they  listened  in  rapt  admiration  to  his  sono 
rous  sentences  and  sat  in  wonderment  in  the  pres 
ence  of  his  splendid  gifts. 

^  There  are  many  to  say  that  Clay's  speeches  do 
not  have  the  vital  quality  of  Burke' s,  for  example, 
and  of  those  of  many  of  the  famous  orators  of  his 
tory.  It  is  likely  that  this  judgment  often  springs 
from  an  inadequate  reading  of  Clay,  who  suffers  by 
comparison  because  his  speeches  have  never  been 
properly  collected  and  edited,  and  still  more  because 
of  the  Civil  War.  As*  has  been  said  before,  this 
event  wholly  changed  the  current  of  our  national 
life,  in  a  singular  way  obscuring  the  reputations  of 
great  men  who  strove  to  avert  it,  and  who  would 
have  kept  the  nation  whole  without  this  trial  by 
fire.  The  objects  and  purposes  which  they  had  in 
view,  however  patriotic,  were  swept  away,  meaning 
little  except  to  students  of  history,  and  having  been 
set  aside  by  the  absorbing  issues  of  1860-1865,  they 
cannot  be  restored  to  place  in  public  attention  or 
reverence.  While  Lincoln's  utterances,  much  less 
numerous,  much  less  finished  in  some  regards  than 
many  of  Clay's,  seem  endowed  with  the  immortal 
quality,  may  it  not  be  that  this  result  has  been  ar 
rived  at  principally  because  of  the  subjects  to  which 
they  relate  ?  Not  many  claims  are  made  for  Lin 
coln's  speeches  in  the  joint  debates  with  Douglas. 


PEBSONAL  CHAEACTEEISTICS        389 

Yet  it  is  to  these,  to  the  first  and  second  inaugural 
addresses  and  the  famous  speech  at  Gettysburg  that 
the  Lincoln  advocate  will  invariably  point. 

It  is  said,  of  course,  that  a  great  part  of  Clay's 
power  was  in  his  incomparable  voice,  his  facial  ex 
pression,  the  movements  of  his  graceful  body  ;  and 
there  is  truth  in  these  observations,  though  he  who 
emphasizes  them  is  in  danger  of  conveying  a  false 
impression.  These  traits  of  the  orator  he  had  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  but  he  never  relied  upon  them 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  more  substantial  elements  of 
success.  He  did  not  go  into  a  contest  without 
preparation,  thinking  to  win  by  his  natural  gifts. 
He  did  not  fail  to  read  and  investigate,  because  he 
might  have  moved  the  people  before  him  without 
reading  and  investigation.  There  are  in  existence 
the  most  elaborate  collections  of  notes  and  quota 
tions  which  he  made  for  some  of  his  principal 
speeches.  When  he  had  not  prepared  himself  he 
was  likely  to  say  so,  thus  indicating  that  he  did  not 
wish  his  speech  to  be  judged  by  the  high  standards 
which  he  long  before  had  set  up  for  himself  as  an 
orator,  and  from  which  he  never  willingly  made  a 
departure.  He  had  the  natural  fire,  however,  of( 
Patrick  Henry,  with  whom,  on  this  ground,  he 
may,  perhaps,  be  more  fairly  compared  than  with 
any  other  American  orator  ;  and  his  quickness  in 
repartee  and  readiness  in  a  running  debate  with  any 
adversary,  constituted  him  the  matchless  leader, 
which  he  never  could  have  been  merely  by  dint  of 
skill  in  the  studied  oration. 

James  O.  Harrison  at  one  time  heard  Mr.  Clay 
declare  that  his  habit  had  always  been  "  never  to 


390  HENBY  CLAY 

attempt  an  argument  on  any  matter  of  importance 
without  having  fully  prepared  himself."  Once 
during  the  Tyler  administration  Senator  Bives,  of 
Virginia,  launched  an  attack  against  Clay,  who, 
when  it  was  concluded,  instantly  rose  for  reply. 
His  friends  urged  him  to  take  time  for  preparation 
and  made  a  motion  to  adjourn.  "No,"  said  he, 
"when  I  am  assailed  I  am  always  ready  for  de 
fense."  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  who  was  then  in  the 
House,  himself  an  able  orator,  used  to  say  that 
this  was  "by  all  odds  the  greatest  speech  he  had 
ever  heard  from  Mr.  Clay,"  When  Clay  had  fin 
ished  JohnQuiucy  Adams,  who  was  present,  grasped 
the  hand  of  a  friend  and  exclaimed,  "That's  the 
Henry  Clay  of  1812  ! "  The  speech  was  full  of  the 
natural  fire  of  the  orator's  youth,  when  by  his  ap 
peals  he  had  led  the  nation  into  its  second  war  of 
independence. 

Another  who  heard  the  speech  said  :  "Mr.  Clay 
not  only  went  far  beyond  my  expectations  but  in 
that  reply  surpassed  in  resistless  power  all  I  have 
ever  heard,  or  have  ever  conceived  of  human  elo 
quence."  1 

'Harrison  MS.  This  speech  was  delivered  on  August  19, 
1841.  (Colton,  Vol.  V,  p.  291  et  seq.)  It  was  on  the  subject 
of  the  veto  of  the  bank  bill.  In  it  Mr.  Clay  originated  the 
phrase  "corporal's  guard."  The  statement  that  this  was  the 
best  of  the  orator's  speeches  must  be  taken  with  caution.  Each 
seemed  to  be  his  best  in  the  judgment  of  those  who  came  under 
its  spell.  Mr.  Clay  himself,  however,  when  he  was  asked  which 
he  considered  "the  most  effective  and  powerful,"  said: 
"There  is  a  portion  of  the  speech  on  the  veto  of  Mr.  Tyler  of 
the  bank  bill,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Rives,  which  produced  the  most 
electrifying  effect  of  anything  I  ever  uttered.  The  immediate 
subject  was  patriotism." — Mrs.  Maury,  Statesmen  of  America 
in  1846,  p.  437. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        391 

*It  was  said,  and  may  still  to-day  be  said  with  truth, 
that  Clay' s  speeches  do  not  exhibit  profound  learning. 
John  Quincy  Adams  was  accustomed  to  speak  lightly 
of  his  reading,  and  from  the  Adams  standpoint  it 
was  in  essential  ways  deficient.  It  did  not  cover 
the  ground  which  must  have  been  traversed  by  such 
orators  as  Daniel  Webster  or  Charles  Suniner,  but 
nevertheless  Clay's  addresses  were  very  far  from 
lacking  intellectual  appeal.  They  were  heard  with 
satisfaction  and  profit  by  Americans  of  the  best 
mental  types.  It  was  from  these  classes  that  his 
party  drew  its  strength.  In  addition  to  a  full  ac 
quaintance  with  American  constitutional,  political 
and  economic  history,  his  addresses  reflect  a  gen 
eral  knowledge  of  the  history  of  ancient  and  modern 
government  in  Europe.  Self-educated  he  was,  but  I 
he  read  widely  and  to  good  purpose  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  popular  orator,  and  both  in  writing/ 
and  speech  he  developed  a  style  which  was  simple,] 
direct  and  full  of  charm.  No  one  could  truthfully 
say  that  he  left  out  of  account  the  minds  of  his 
hearers  while  he  aimed  to  excite  their  natural  feej^, 
ings.  His  was  an  appeal  to  the  reason  as  well  as  to 
the  emotions,  and  if  he  erred  sometimes  in  his/j 
premises,  or  there  were  faults  in  his  logic, fi^Te-  ' 
reading  of  his  speeches  will  show  that  his  failures 
were  not  so  much  greater  than  those  of  other  men. 
Calhoun  could  taunt  him  with  not  having  any  love  for 
metaphysics,  Webster  and  Adams  for  no  acquaint 
ance  with  the  classics,  but  in  the  ability  to  under 
stand  human  character  and  address  the  common 
sense  he  had  no  superior,  as  they  very  well  knew. 
During  the  battle  of  the  tricksters  in  parliamen- 


392  HENKY  CLAY 

tary  rule,  to  delay  and  defeat  the  compromise  acts 
of  1850,  Clay  expressed  his  own  views  respecting 
debate  in  a  legislative  chamber  and  he  was  always 
willing  to  abide  by  them.  He  said  :  "For  myself 
I  differ  perhaps  from  most  members  of  this  body,  or 
of  any  deliberative  body,  on  this  subject.  I  am  for 
the  trial  of  mind  against  mind,  of  argument  agaiDSt 
argument,  of  reason  against  reason,  and  when  after 
such  employment  of  our  intellectual  faculties,  1  find 
myself  in  the  minority,  I  am  for  submitting  to  the 
act  of  the  majority.  I  am  not  for  resorting  to  ad 
journments,  calls  for  the  yeas  and  nays,  and  other 
dilatory  proceedings  iu  order  to  delay  that  which, 
if  the  Constitution  has  full  and  fair  operation,  must 
inevitably  take  place."  l 

Mr.  Harrison's  estimates  of  Clay  as  a  public 
speaker  are  of  interest,  as  they  come  from  one  who 
had  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  great 
orator  : 


"A  notion  has  been  entertained  by  some  who 
knew  but  little  of  his  habits,  or  the  loftiness  of  his 
temperament  or  character,  that  Mr.  Clay  was  but  an 
impulsive  orator, — dashing  and  reckless, — always 
ready  for  a  speech,  a  frolic,  or  a  fight,  and  never 
taking  time  for  preparation  however  difficult  or 
weighty  the  subject,  or  the  occasion.  Every  such 
notion  is  utterly  unfounded  and  untrue.  He  was 
exceedingly  painstaking  in  the  ascertainment  of 
facts  and  in  his  way  was  one  of  the  most  laborious 
and  methodical  of  men.  His  way,  however,  his 
mode  of  preparation,  somewhat  peculiar,  was  the 
result  of  his  temperament,  his  early  training,  and 
the  pressure  of  the  times  under  which  he  was  reared. 

1  Coltou,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  411-412. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        393 

His  happy  adjustment  by  nature,  of  heart  and  brain, 
had,  under  the  hard  surroundings  of  his  early  life, 
developed  in  him  a  manhood,  ever  fresh,  fearless, 
self- reliant,  buoyant  and  commanding. 

"  His  notions  of  honor  and  duty,  fashioned  and 
fixed  as  they  were  by  the  sturdy  civilization  of  that 
period,  inspired  and  instinctively  guided  him 
throughout  his  after  life,  private  us  well  as  public. 
He,  fashioned  to  that  standard  in  his  youth  and 
tested  by  it,  was  to  be  the  gentleman  without  re 
proach,  the  patriot  without  fear.  Made  up  as  he 
was  and  trained  as  he  had  been,  he  must  follow 
those  notions  of  honor  and  of  duty,  however  ' rough 
hewn  '  they  were,  and  however  fearful  the  ordeal 
through  which  they  might  lead  him.  He  feared  a 
taint  upon  his  honor,  as  he  understood  honor,  far 
more  than  he  feared  death.  He  never  turned  aside 
for  any  'lion  in  his  path.'  On  the  contrary,  'the 
lion  in  his  path '  gave  intensity  to  his  purpose,  his 
courage,  and  his  unflinching  defiance  ;  and  should 
he  fall,  as  fall  he  might  in  some  such  encounter 
whether  public  or  private,  it  should  be  as  a  martyr 
to  his  own  high  convictions.  His  whole  career  was 
in  harmony  with  his  peculiar  temperament.  He 
was  so  true  to  his  own  nature — to  himself — that  any 
one  well  acquainted  with  the  man  would  have  but 
little  difficulty  in  foretelling  how  he  would  act  under 
given  circumstances. 

"Though  one  of  the  frankest  of  men,  he  seldom 
counseled  with  any  one  as  to  his  duty,  public  or 
private ;  and  seldom  wrote  any  of  his  speeches. 
Being  at  an  early  age  a  deputy  in  the  Chancery  of 
fice  at  Richmond,  he,  of  course,  was  thrown  not 
only  among  business  men  and  business  questions 
of  that  day,  but  among  the  most  prominent  lawyers 
and  statesmen  of  Virginia,  and  at  a  time  when  the 
rights  of  man  and  the  constitutional  powers  of  the 
young  republic  were  the  absorbing  questions,  and 
he  must  then  have  contracted  not  only  those  exact 
business  habits  which  characterized  him  in  after 


394  HENKY  CLAY 

life,  but  he  must  have  also  learned  there  his  first 
lessons  as  to  the  rights  of  the  people,  and  the  duty  of 
their  representatives. 

u  By  a  happy  chance,  that  was  the  very  school 
the  best  suited  of  all  others  to  the  natural  tendencies 
of  the  youth.  Those  public  questions  caught  his 
fancy,  they  seized  his  heart  and  brain,  and  they 
must  have  been  the  subject  of  his  thoughts  whenever 
he  had  time  for  quiet  meditation.  And  those 
thoughts  throbbing  in  his  own  brain  must  have  ut 
terance  and  in  words  infused  with  his  own  fire.  He, 
therefore,  was  soon  in  the  habit  not  only  of  prepar 
ing  his  thoughts  for  utterance,  but  of  declaiming 
them  when  alone  in  his  room,  or  in  the  fields,  or 
woods  ;  and  this  self -discipline  in  his  youth,  the 
habit  of  preparation,  became  the  fixed  habit  of  his 
life. 

u  His  first  attempts  at  actual  debate  were  in  a  de 
bating  society  at  Richmond,  made  up  of  youth  of 
about  his  own  age,  and  as  some  of  them  were  no 
doubt  well  educated,  a  more  thorough  preparation 
by  him  was  then  necessary.  He  knew  nothing  of 
the  logic,  or  rhetoric,  or  philosophy  of  the  schools 
and  had  no  Roscius  or  Talma  to  train  his  gesticula 
tion,  his  manner,  or  his  voice.  He,  however,  was 
familiar  with  the  public  questions  of  the  day  and  had 
in  himself  what  neither  the  schools,  nor  any  artifi 
cial  aid  could  supply.  \  Nature  had  trusted  him  with 
the  key  to  the  human  heart  and  to  the  common  sense 
of  mankind,  and  he  knew  intuitively  how  and  when 
to  use  it." 

Mr.  Harrison  continues  his  observations  : 

"  He  seemed  to  have  not  only  an  instinctive  con 
sciousness  of  his  own  strength  but  of  his  own  special 
capacity  for  leadership,  and  therefore  he  would 
take  the  lead,  whatever  the  occasion,  and  as  nat 
urally  and  as  gracefully  as  if  it  were  his  birthright. 


PEESONAL  CHAEACTEEISTICS        395 

Few,  therefore,  if  any,  ever  were  surprised  that 
he  had  taken  the  place  for  which  nature  seemed  to 
have  designed  him.  Indeed,  without  any  appear 
ance  of  self-assertion  on  his  part,  and  as  if  uncon 
sciously  to  himself,  there  was  a  something  in  his 
presence  and  manner  that  gave  to  him  a  somewhat 
authoritative  air  and  made  him,  for  the  time,  the 
central,  the  commanding  figure  of  the  group  about 
him. 

"Strangers,  persons  who  never  saw  him,  and 
who,  of  course,  never  felt  the  potency  of  his  pres 
ence  and  manner,  can  hardly  understand  the  sort  of 
impression  made  on  others  by  what  was  called  the 
magnetism  of  the  man.  They  would  probably  infer 
from  my  general  account  of  him,  that  there  must 
have  been  in  his  presence  and  manner  some  mani 
festation  of  arrogance  and  vanity.  There  was,  how 
ever,  in  his  general  intercourse  no  manifestation  of 
either.  I  think  he  was  as  free  of  vanity  as  any  one 
I  ever  knew.  Though  often  with  him  I  never  knew 
him  to  make  himself  the  hero  of  his  own  story,  and 
when  questioned,  as  he  occasionally  was  by  me  and 
others,  in  my  presence,  in  regard  to  any  matter  in 
which  he  had  taken  a  prominent  part,  he  would 
merely  state  the  facts :  the  several  steps  by  which 
results  were  reached,  and  then  the  naked  results, 
and  just  as  if  there  was  nothing  remarkable  in  his 
own  part  in  bringing  them  about. 

"But  whatever  the  occasion,  or  his  mood,  or 
whatever  the  company  or  the  subject  of  conversa 
tion,  there  was  a  something  in  his  presence  and 
manner  to  impress  those  around  him  that,  within 
his  personality  and  beneath  that  manner  there  was 
a  power,  a  force  of  character  to  be  respected,  feared, 
followed  and  honored.  Had  this  quiet  force  been 
arrogantly  or  ostentatiously  displayed,  it  would  have 
broken  the  charm  that  made  him  so  attractive  and 
at  the  same  time  so  commanding.  I  never  saw  an 
approach  to  any  such  display,  unless  possibly  in 
some  stormy  debate,  when,  with  a  monarch's  voice 


396  HENRY  CLAY 

and  ID  an  attitude  of  lofty  defiance,  he  would  spurn 
assaults,  whether  direct,  or  indirect,  upon  his 
principles,  his  consistency,  or  his  honor. 

''Probably,  the  idea  I  have  attempted  above  to 
describe  would  be  more  readily  seen  by  an  illustra 
tion  than  by  my  description  of  it.  Though  we  were 
often  together,  and  though  we  talked  of  any  matter, 
however  unimportant,  that  casually  came  up,  yet  I 
was  never  with  him,  whether  alone  or  with  company, 
without  feeling  I  was  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
power.  My  supposition  was,  that  this  feeling  on 
my  part  was  the  result  of  my  personal  admiration, 
or  possibly  of  some  peculiarity  in  my  own  tempera 
ment,  but,  on  inquiry  of  others  less  emotional  than 
myself,  I  found  that  in  every  instance  the  impres 
sion  made  on  them  by  his  presence  and  manner  was 
identical  with  that  made  on  me. 

"The  why  and  the  wherefore  were  a  mystery 
then,  and  are  a  mystery  now,  unless  it  be  that  hu 
man  nature  is  so  organized  that  the  weaker  force  is 
instinctively  conscious  of  the  fact  in  the  presence  of 
the  superior  force. 

/'"Mr.  Clay's  complexion  was  very  fair.  His  eyes 
were  gray,  and  when  excited  full  of  fire ;  his  fore 
head  high  and  capacious  and  with  a  tendency  to 
baldness  ;  his  nose  prominent,  very  slightly  arched 
and  finely  formed  ;  his  mouth  unusually  large  with 
out  being  disfiguring ;  it,  however,  was  so  large  as 
to  attract  immediate  notice, — so  large  indeed,  that, 
as  he  said,  he  never  learned  how  to  spit.  He  had 
learned  to  snuff  and  smoke  tobacco,  and  but  for  his 
unmanageable  mouth,  he  would  probably  have 
learned  to  chew  it  also.  He  also  could  not  whistle. 
On  his  trip  to  Europe,  in  connection  with  the  ne 
gotiation  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  while  he  was  in 
London  there  was  a  demand  for  Yankee  Doodle. 
The  bandmaster  did  not  know  the  tune,  but  if  some 
one-would  whistle  it  he  promised  to  have  it  played. 
Mr.  Clay  had  to  decline  but  he  called  upon  his 
negro  body-servant  Aaron,  who  whistled  well,  and 


PEESOXAL  CHABACTEBISTICS        397 

the  British  musicians  soon  caught  up  the  refrain  on 
their  instruments.-* 

"His  chief  physical  peculiarity,  however,  was  in 
the  structure  of  his  nervous  system.  It  was  so  deli 
cately  strung  that  a  word,  a  touch,  a  memory  would 
set  it  in  motion.  Though  his  nervous  system  was 
thus  sensitive,  yet  his  emotions,  however  greatly 
excited,  were  of  themselves  never  strong  enough  to 
disturb  the  self- poise  of  his  deliberate  judgment. 
His  convictions  of  duty  were  fixed  as  fate,  and  yet, 
as  I  thought,  he  was  the  most  emotional  man  I  ever 
knew.  I  have  seen  his  eyes  fill  instantly  on  shaking 
the  hand  of  an  old  friend,  however  obscure,  who  had 
stood  by  him  in  his  early  struggles,  and  whom,  after 
a  long  interval,  he  had  suddenly  met.  I  have  seen 
the  letter  of  a  grandchild,  then  residing  in  a  distant 
state,  drop  from  his  hand  when  reading  it  aloud  to 
some  members  of  his  family, — his  eyes  were  too  full 
of  tears  to  see,  and  his  tongue  too  full  of  emotion  to 
utter  the  touching  words.  I  read  the  letter.  There 
was  not  even  a  suggestion  in  it  to  give  pain.  It  was 
only  the  loving  letter  of  a  child,  full  of  tender  mes 
sages  to  her  grandmother  and  to  him. 

"His  sympathies  were  as  wide  as  human  nature, 
and  were  alive  not  only  to  its  struggles  and  its  vir 
tues,  but  even  to  its  infirmities  ;  in  case  of  any 
great  affliction  in  the  family  of  a  friend  or  neighbor, 
his  condolence  was  ever  ready,  and  in  a  manner  and 
tone  of  voice  almost  as  tender,  and  as  touching,  and 
as  natural  as  if  the  affliction  were  his  own. 

"This  emotional  nature,  so  natural  to  him  and 
always  so  naturally  shown,  was  a  marked  character 
istic  and  a  great  element  of  his  power  over  the  heart. 
His  magnetic  power  was  the  natural  result  of  the 
lofty,  the  unmistakably  and  generously  tempered 
manliness  of  the  man, — the  outcrop  of  the  great  ele 
ments  that,  combined,  made  him  inevitably  what  he 
was. 

"The  muscles  of  his  face,  even  in  old  age,  never 
had  any  of  the  rigidity,  or  leathery  appearance,  or 


398  HENRY  CLAY 

toughness,  which  sometimes  accompanies  old  age. 
On  the  contrary,  his  i'eatures  were  apparently  al 
ways  as  tender  and  as  flexible  as  the  features  of  a 
child,  and  expressed  as  naturally  and  as  readily  as 
do  the  features  of  a  child  the  emotion  of  a  moment, 
whatever  the  emotion  was  ;  and  when  in  high  de 
bate,  every  muscle,  his  whole  physical  structure, 
would  be  alive  with  the  lofty  passion  that  was  giv 
ing  tire  and  force  to  every  thought  he  uttered. 

lkl  have  never  seen  any  one  but  himself  whose 
whole  physical  structure  so  readily  and  so  naturally 
responded  to  its  own  emotions  and  passions,  nor 
ever  heard  any  voice  but  his  own,  that  so  harmonized 
with  whatever  he  felt  and  uttered.  Indeed,  even 
when  there  would  seem  to  be  no  occasion  for  any 
great  emotion,  or  for  the  display  of  it,  yet  if  the 
subject  presented  issues  of  great  concern  to  his  client, 
to  the  public,  or  to  himself,  his  heart,  full  of  the 
subject  and  as  if  oppressed  by  its  responsibility, 
would  manifest  its  emotion  not  only  in  the  prelimi 
nary  outline  of  the  facts  to  be  considered,  but  would 
occasionally  manifest  its  emotion  even  before  he  had 
uttered  a  word.  Y^ou  would  see  the  emotion  in  his 
whole  person  as  he  slowly  rose  to  his  feet.  You  would 
see  it  in  his  drooping  posture,  in  the  deathly  pallor  of 
his  face,  in  his  brimful  eyes,  in  the  spasmodic 
twitching  of  his  under  lip,  and  upon  the  utterance 
of  the  first  sentence,  you  would  hear  the  emotion  in 
the  touching  tones  of  his  magnetic  voice.  They  all 
harmonized,  and  naturally,  and  without  effort,  witli 
the  emotions,  passions  and  utterances  of  the  moment. 
It  was  nature  visibly  at  work,  and  bringing  into 
harmonious  action,  before  your  own  eyes,  all  the 
great  elements,  mental,  moral,  and  physical,  of  his 
nature,  and  this  rare  combination  of  force  actively 
enlisted  in  high  debate,  gave  his  eloquence  a  natural 
ness,  a  concentrated  earnestness  and  impetuosity 
that  for  the  time  was  overwhelming." 

Much  testimony  is  at  hand  to  corroborate  Mr.  Har- 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        399 

rison  011  the  subject  of  Mr.  Clay's  voice.  It  was 
like  some  delicately  attuned  musical  instrument, 
which  he  could  use  for  the  expression  of  every  emo 
tion  within  the  human  range,  while  his  control  and 
employment  not  only  of  his  hands  in  gesture,  but 
also  of  other  parts  of  his  body,  was  developed  into  a 
fine  art. 

"  No  such  voice  was  ever  heard  elsewhere, "  wrote 
Ben  Perley  Poore.  * '  It  was  equally  distinct  and 
clear,  whether  at  its  highest  key  or  lowest  whisper  ; 
rich,  musical,  captivating.  His  action  was  the 
spontaneous  offspring  of  the  passing  thought.  He 
gesticulated  all  over.  The  nodding  of  his  head 
hung  on  a  long  neck,  his  arms,  hands,  fingers,  feet, 
and  even  his  spectacles,  his  snuff- box  and  his  pocket 
handkerchief  aided  him  in  debate.  He  stepped 
forward  and  backward,  and  from  the  right  to  the 
left  with  effect.  Every  thought  spoke  ;  the  whole 
body  had  its  story  to  tell  and  added  to  the  attractions 
of  his  able  argument. ' ' 

A  striking  evidence  of'  his  power  of  making  his 
thoughts  speak  through  his  body  was  given  in  a 
meeting  held  in  the  public  square  in  Lexington  in 
May,  1843.  The  address  was  never  published.  It 
was  made  to  repel  the  attacks  directed  against  him 
at  that  time  in  his  own  state.  He  could  not  rest 
quietly  under  them.  Although  his  friends  tried  to 
dissuade  him  from  taking  notice  of  the  malignant 
authors  of  the  charges,  he  sought  this  opportunity 
to  appear  in  his  own  defense.  He  began  : 

"  Fellow  citizens — I  am  now  an  old  man — quite  an 
old  man."  Here  he  bowed  himself  very  low,  as  if 
bent  with  the  burdens  of  age.  "  But  yet  it  will  be 


400  HENKY  CLAY 

fouud,"  lie  continued,  u  that  I  am  not  too  old  to  vin 
dicate  my  principles,  to  stand  by  my  friends,  or  to 
defend  myself." 

His  voice  was  growing  louder  each  moment  and 
he  was  elevating  himself  in  the  most  impressive  way 
as  he  went  on  to  his  climax. 

"I  feel  like  an  old  stag  which  has  been  long 
coursed  by  the  hunters  and  the  hounds,  through 
brakes  and  briers,  and  o'er  distant  plains,  and  has 
at  last  returned  to  his  ancient  lair  to  lay  himself 
down  and  die.  And  yet  the  vile  curs  of  party  are 
barking  at  my  heels,  and  the  bloodhounds  of  per 
sonal  malignity  are  aiming  at  my  throat.  I  scorn 
and  defy  them  as  I  ever  did." 

As  he  uttered  these  concluding  words,  he  extended 
his  frame  to  its  greatest  limit,  stretched  his  arms, 
his  hands  widely  spread,  above  his  head  until  his 
tall  person  seemed  twice  its  normal  height.  The  ef 
fect,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  greatly  enhanced  by 
the  device.  He  knew  how,  always,  to  suit  his  action 
to  an  oratorical  situation. 

Mr.  Clay  was  never  given  to  quotation  from 
others.  As  Mr.  Winthrop  truly  says,  his  own  store 
house  was  so  full  that  he  had  little  need  to  bor 
row.  When  he  attempted  to  repeat  even  familiar 
passages,  he  did  it  awkwardly  and  often  incor 
rectly. 

"  What  is  it,"  he  asked  Senator  Evans  of  Maine 
one  day,  "  that  Shakespeare  says  about  a  rose  smell 
ing  as  sweet?  Write  me  down  those  lines,  and  be 
sure  you  get  them  exactly  right,  and  let  them  be  in 
a  large,  legible  hand." 

Evans  sent  to  the  library  for  a  copy  of  Shake- 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        401 

speare  to  make  sure  of  his  ground,  and  then  wrote 
the  lines  as  he  had  been  directed  : 

'  What's  in  a  name  ?     That  which  we  call  a  rose 
By  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet." 

When  Clay  canie  to  the  place  in  his  speech  at  which 
he  wished  to  make  use  of  the  quotation,  however,  he 
stumbled  over  his  notes  and  then  unable  to  find  the 
written  words,  exclaimed — "A  rose  will  smell  the 
same^call  it  what  you  will."  His  friends  had  many 
such  anecdotes  to  tell  about  him. 

His  figure  was  a  lasting  memory  to  Mr.  Winthrop, 
as  it  was  to  all  who  ever  came  into  contact  with  him. 
"  As  he  sometimes  sauntered  across  the  Senate 
chamber,  taking  a  pinch  of  snuff  out  of  one  friend's 
box  or  offering  his  own  box  to  another,"  says  this 
fine  old  Massachusetts  Whig  in  his  Memoir  of  the 
great  Kentuckian,  "  he  was  a  picture  of  affability 
and  nonchalance.  He  had  the  genial,  jaunty  air  of 
Lord  Palmerston,  whose  peer  he  would  have  been  as 
a  cabinet  minister  or  in  Parliament,  had  he  chanced 
to  have  been  born  an  Englishman,  or  an  Irishman, 
instead  of  an  American." 

Mr.  Schurz  formed  this  just  estimate  of  Henry 
Clay  as  an  orator  :  i i  They  [his  speeches]  were  the 
impassioned  reasoning  of  a  statesman  intensely 
devoted  to  his  country,  and  to  the  cause  he  thought 
right.  There  was  no  appearance  of  artifice  in  it. 
They  made  every  listener  feel  that  the  man  who  ut 
tered  them  was  tremendously  in  earnest,  and  that 
the  thoughts  he  expressed  had  not  only  passed 
through  his  brain,  but  also  through  his  heart. 
They  were  the  speeches  of  a  great  debater,  and,  as 


402  HENRY  CLAY 

may  be  said  of  those  of  Charles  James  Fox,  cold 
print  could  never  do  them  justice.  To  be  fully  ap 
preciated  they  had  to  be  heard  on  the  theatre  of 
action,  in  the  hushed  Senate  chamber,  or  before  the 
eagerly  upturned  faces  of  assembled  multitudes.  To 
feel  the  fall  charm  of  his  lucid  explanations  and  his 
winning  persuasiveness,  or  the  thrill  which  was 
Hashed  through  the  nerves  of  his  hearers  by  the 
magnificent  sunbursts  of  his  enthusiasm,  or  the 
tierce  thunder-storms  of  his  anger  and  scorn,  one 
had  to  hear  that  musical  voice  cajoling,  flattering, 
inspiring,  overawing,  terrifying  in  turn  .  .  . 
the  whole  man  a  superior  being  while  he  spoke." 

Mr.  Clay's  personal  charm  was  as  great  in  con 
versation  as  upon  the  platform.  Horace  Greeley 
tells  of  a  member  of  Congress  of  the  opposite  party, 
who  refused  the  offer  of  an  introduction,  lest  he  fall 
under  the  spell  of  the  man  and  be  swept  away  by 
admiration.  It  was  General  Glascock,  who  had 
been  elected  a  representative  from  Georgia  during 
the  excitement  over  the  removal  of  the  deposits  from 
the  United  States  Bank. 

"  General,"  said  a  friend  at  a  reception  in  Wash 
ington,  "shall  I  make  you  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Clay?" 

"  ~NOj  sir,"  was  the  prompt  and  stern  response. 
"  I  choose  not  to  be  fascinated  and  moulded  by  him, 
as  friend  and  foe  appear  to  be,  and  I  shall  therefore 
decline  his  acquaintance." 

A  venerable  earl  in  England  who  was  too  feeble 
to  come  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  American  corn- 

1  Schurz,  Vol.  I,  pp.  325-326. 

2  Homes  of  American  Statesmen,  p.  380. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        403 

missiouers  after  the  successful  negotiation  of  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent,  and  to  whose  home  they  therefore 
repaired,  was  subsequently  asked  which  one  of  the 
number  he  preferred. 

"  Ah,"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  enjoyed  them  all  but  I 
liked  the  Kentucky  man  best." 

"I  have  admired  and  trusted  many  statesmen," 
said  Horace  Greeley.  "I  profoundly  loved  Henry 
Clay.  ...  I  loved  him  for  his  generous  nature, 
his  gallant  bearing,  his  thrilling  eloquence  and  his 
lifelong  devotion  to  what  I  deemed  our  country's 
unity,  prosperity  and  just  renown."  1 

Charles  Dickens,  in  describing  various  American 
statesmen,  contented  himself  when  he  came  to  Clay 
by  saying  that  he  was  a  "  perfectly  enchanting  and 
irresistible  man." 

As  has  been  remarked  many  times  elsewhere  in  v 
this  account  of  his  life,  his  friends  were  the  most  \ 
devoted  ever  found  in  the  train  of  any  public  man 
in  American  history.3    Ladies  would  have  taken  off 
their  cloaks  to  make  a  silken  way  for  him  in  the 
streets  ;  men  would  have  died  cheerfully  to  have 
saved  his  life,  or  even  to  have  accomplished  his  ele 
vation   to   the  presidency.     They  were  constantly 
sending  him  valuable  gifts  and  other  tokens  of  their 
attached  affections.     Few  at  this  day  can  compre- 

1  Recollections,  p    166. 

'2  Forster.  Life  of  Dickens,  p.  349. 

3  Lord  Morpeth  made  an  exception  for  Canning  in  England. 
In  his  Travels  in  America  he  wrote  :  "I  certainly  never  met 
any  public  man,  either  in  his  country  or  in  mine,  always  ex 
cepting  Mr.  Canning,  who  exercised  such  evident  fascination 
over  the  minds  and  affections  of  his  friends  and  followers  as 
Henry  Clay.  I  thought  his  society  most  attractive,  easy,  simple 
and  genial  with  great  natural  dignity." 


404  HENRY  CLAY 

heiid  how  valuable  a  boon  the  Cumberland  Road 
was  to  the  people  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi 
Valleys  at  the  time  it  was  built.  Clay  struggled 
year  after  year  to  extend  and  complete  it.  In  1820 
a  monument  was  placed  upon  this  highway  near 
Wheeliug  in  commemoration  of  his  efforts  in  its  be 
half.  The  front  of  the  base  bears  this  inscription  : 

"This  monument  was  erected  by  Moses 
and  Lydia  Shepherd  as  a  testimony  of  re 
spect  to  Henry  Clay,  the  eloquent  defender 
of  national  rights  and  national  independ 
ence.  1 ' 

On  another  side  of  the  stone  these  words  were  in 
scribed  : 


k i 


Time  brings  every  amelioration  and 
refinement  most  gratifying  to  rational  man, 
and  the  humblest  flower  freely  plucked 
under  the  tree  of  liberty  is  more  to  be  de 
sired  than  all  the  trappings  of  royalty. 
"Anno  Domini,  1820." 

No  man  may  fully  comprehend  all  of  what  there 
was  in  this  remarkable  personality  to  arouse  such 
sentiments  in  men  and  women  for  whom  he  had  done 
nothing,  whom,  in  great  numbers  of  instances,  h<^ 
did  not  know,  indeed  had  not  even  seen.  Perhaps 
something  of  the  spell  could  have  been  communi 
cated  to  later  generations  had  the  inventor  of  the 
phonograph  contributed  his  device  to  the  world  at 
an  earlier  day.  What  would  not  now  be  given  for 
a  talking-machine,  imperfect  a  contrivance  :«s  it 
is,  which  would  reproduce  the  speeches  of  Washing- 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        405 

ton,  Clay,  Webster  and  Lincoln  as  they  fell  from 
their  own  lips  f 

Yet  with  all  these  friends  Clay  had  the  most  ma 
lignant  enemies.  Perhaps  this  was  inevitable.  A 
man  of  decided  opinions,  who  is  always  fearless  in 
expressing  them,  must  expect  to  meet  this  fate  in 
public  life.  He  is  bitterly  hated  by  some  for  the 
very  reasons  that  he  is  dearly  loved  by  others. 
Clay's  enemies,  however,  feared  him  and  plied  their 
arts  behind  his  back  by  foul  means.  The  great  lie 
about  bargain  and  corruption  was  circulated  in  dark 
places  in  the  night.  No  one  could  be  found  to  stand 
sponsor  for  it.  It  was  denied  in  the  most  conclu 
sive  manner,  again  and  again,  only  to  be  brought 
out  by  the  Jackson  party  in  some  new  backwoods 
settlement  to  bias  the  minds  of  ignorant  people. 
Thurlow  Weed  and  the  men  who  accomplished 
Clay's  defeat  in  the  Harrisburg  Convention  in  1840, 
and  nominated  General  Harrison,  feared  to  come 
out  into  the  open.  They  achieved  their  objects  by 
subterranean  schemes.  Clay  was  not  a  match  for 
such  chicanery.  It  had  not  flourished  in  the  age  in 
which  he  had  come  forward  as  a  public  man.  It 
was  not  any  essential  part  of  the  equipment  of  the 
"  Virginians."  For  the  "  trial  of  mind  against 
mind"  he  contended  consistently,  and  he  had  no 
favors  to  ask  of  any  one  in  such  a  contest. 

In  an  age  in  which  women  disturb  themselves  in 
regard  to  the  franchise,  and  assert  that  their  "  sex" 
is  deficient  in  appreciation  of  political  matters, 
simply  because  they  do  not  have  the  opportunities 
and  experiences  of  men,  it  is  worth  while  to  note 
the  interest  with  which  they  pursued  the  career  of 


406  HENBY  CLAY 

Henry  Clay.  They  flocked  to  hear  his  speeches  ; 
they  read  his  speeches.  No  restriction  upon  their 
suffrage  "rights"  interfered  with  their  enjoyment 
of  the  proceedings  of  Congress  when  he  took  part 
in  the  debates.  His  words,  some  one  has  said,  were 
"like  the  sweetest  notes  of  the  lark  in  the  ears  of 
the  whole  female  sex." 

Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison  Smith's  enthusiasm  over 
flowed  whenever  she  spoke  of  him.  "With  his  uu- 
rivaled  and  surpassing  talents,  his  winning  ai:d 
irresistible  manners,"  she  exclaimed  one  time  in 
1831,  "  what  is  it  he  cannot  do  ?  "  ! 

Once  when  he  was  visiting  at  her  home  during 
his  term  as  Secretary  of  State  she  wrote  :  ' '  Never 
did  I  see  this  great  man  (for  in  native  point  of  mind 
I  never  knew  his  equal)  so  interesting — nay,  fasci 
nating.  I  had  heard  of  his  possessing  this  power  of 
captivation,  which  no  one  who  was  its  object  could 
resist,  and  I  have  before  seen  and  felt  its  influence, 
but  never  in  the  same  degree  as  upon  this  occasion." 

He  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  conversational 
ists,  and  could  for  hours  analyze  the  characters  of 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison  and  the  early 
Presidents,  and  detail  the  history  of  their  adminis 
trations.  He  punctuated  his  speeches  with  original 
statement  and  anecdote.  He  sat  upon  his  "  favorite 
seat  on  the  sofa"  in  the  firelight,  or  rather  was  "  re 
clining"  there.  "How  graceful  he  looked!  his 
face  flashed  with  exercise  and  his  countenance  ani 
mated  with  some  strong  emotion.  .  .  .  So  in 
teresting  was  his  conversation,  so  captivating  his 
frank,  cordial  manner,  that  I  could  almost  have 

1  First  Forty  Years,  p.  325. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        407 

said  with  Mr.  Lyon — i  I  could  have  listened  all  night 
and  many  nights  with  delight' — and  with  Mr.  Ward 
have  exclaimed,  '  What  a  treat !  It  is  indeed  the 
feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul.'  "  l 

What  another  woman  thought  of  Clay  at  a  later 
day  is  to  be  found  in  the  recollections  of  American 
statesmen,  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Myttou  Maury.  This 
talented  English  lady's  observations  cover  1846.7 
She  saw  Clay  in  retirement  at  "Ashland."  It 
seemed  like  "Mount  Veruon  "  to  his  countrymen  and 
they  made  their  pilgrimages  thither  in  the  same 
spirit.  He  was  undoubtedly  "the  most  popular 
man  in  America."  Women  both  in  England  and 
the  United  States  she  thought  naturally  conserva 
tive,  and  they  were  generally  Whigs.  "A  lovely 
and  graceful  ornament,  the  ladies  of  America," 
she  said,  "are  the  chaplet  of  roses  in  which  is 
wreathed  the  name  of  Henry  Clay." 

They  all  told  Mrs.  Maury  :  ' i  You  cannot  go  back 
to  your  country  without  going  to  'Ashland.'  You 
never  heard  such  a  voice,  you  never  knew  such  a 
man  in  England  as  our  Mr.  Clay." 

"  All  the  children  born  in  1845  and  1846  are,  I 
believe,  called  after  him,"  she  observed.  "There 
is  a  little  generation  of  two-year-old  Henry  Clays. 
Some  ladies  of  Ithaca  lavished  upon  me  every  sort 
of  hospitality  and  kindness.  *  How,'  said  I  on 
parting,  i  shall  I  repay  you  for  so  much  goodness  1 ' 
1  You  are  going  to  see  Mr.  Clay  ;  ask  him  for  an 
autograph  and  send  it  to  us ;  you  will  have  done 
much  more  for  us  than  we  have  done  for  you/  y 

1  Firsl  Forty  Years,  p.  29«  et  seq. 

2  The  Statesmen  of  America  in  1846,  p.  422  et  seq. 


408  HENKY  CLAY 

Mrs.  Maury  had  seen  men  of  "firm  and  manly 
minds  weep  at  the  recollection  of  Mr.  Clay's  defeat 
in  1844."  "If  it  were  possible,"  however,  she  con 
tinues,  "that  circumstance  has  increased  his  popu 
larity,  and  has  won  for  him  the  most  unusual  and 
extraordinary  attachment  throughout  the  Union  that 
probably  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  man,  except  the 
revered  Washington.  His  character,  manners,  ap 
pearance,  voice,  nay,  even  his  dress  had  been 
minutely  described  to  me  long  before  I  saw  him ; 
every  anecdote  of  his  life  is  public  property  ;  his 
house,  his  farm,  his  domestic  circle  all  belong  to 
society  at  large,  to  the  country  I  might  say  ;  and 
many  could  relate  a  few  words  or  syllables  uttered 
to  them  or  their  friends,  or  perhaps  to  indifferent 
persons,  which  they  had  by  some  fortunate  chance 
caught  as  they  fell  from  his  honeyed  lips." 

The  visit  to  "  Ashland"  was  no  disappointment 
to  Mrs.  Maury.  She  was  admitted  by  an  old  negro 
who  explained  that  "Marster"  was  at  home.  Mr. 
Clay  himself  came  at  once  to  assist  the  guest  to 
alight.  When  they  had  gone  into  the  sitting-room, 
he  read  her  letters  of  introduction.  "  You  have 
about  five  thousand  relations  in  Virginia  and  Ken 
tucky,  ' '  he  remarked  laughing.  ' l  Are  you  going  to 
see  them  all?  I  have  known  many  of  them  and 
they  are  all  endorsed  with  virtue. ' ' 

The  visitor  spent  a  number  of  happy  hours  in  the 
family.  When  many  were  present,  Mrs.  Clay 
would  say,  "Take  him  into  the  garden  and  talk 
with  him  there,  for  I  know  you  wish  it,  and  I  will 
trust  him  with  you." 

Then  they  went  into  the  garden  and  he  pointed 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        409 

out  to  the  guest  the  trees  which  he  hart  planted  with 
his  own  hands,  cut  for  her  "  every  flower  V  that  she 
"  looked  upon  or  touched,"  conducted  her  to  his 
stables  to  show  her  his  fine  cattle  and  his  pets,  and 
spoke  to  her  on  subjects  of  American  and  English 
politics.  He  nearly  always  "  carried  in  his  hand  a 
full-blown  rose  with  a  short  stem  and  frequently  ad 
dressed  himself  to  its  perfumed  cup." 

In  reply  to  an  inquiry,  he  attributed  much  of  his 
success  as  an  orator  to  "  a  voice  peculiarly  adapted 
to  produce  the  impressions  I  wished  in  public 
speaking  ;  now  its  melody,  its  music  is  gone."  But 
"all  this  was  said,"  it  seemed  to  Mrs.  Maury, 
"as  if  in  mockery,  in  sounds  of  exquisite  sweet 
ness." 

A  granddaughter  with  light  blue  eyes  and  flaxen 
hair,  almost  the  image  of  the  old  statesman,  would 
climb  upon  his  knees  when  he  sat  down  and  make 
her  way  to  his  shoulder  to  twine  her  arms  around 
his  neck,  play  with  his  hair  and  kiss  his  head  and 
face  all  over.  When  he  walked  she  clasped  his 
knees.  "He  called  her  i  Sophy'  in  the  softest  ac 
cents  ever  heard,  and  she  ran  away  in  childish  play 
fulness,  so  to  be  called  again."  When  Mrs.  Maury 
left,  as  he  placed  her  in  the  carriage,  he  held  both 
her  hands  "in  the  strong  grasp  of  friendship." 
" Let  us  trust,"  said  he,  "that  we  may  meet  again, 
either  here  or  elsewhere  ;  and  send  those  boys  of 
yours  to  St.  Louis,  and  let  them  come  to  me,  and  I 
will  do  all  I  can  for  them,  and  God  in  Heaven  bless, 
you." 

No  human  being,  man  or  woman,  could  fail  to  be 
fascinated  by  such  a  person.  His  words  lingered  on 


410  HEXEY  CLAY 

Mrs.  Maury's  ear,  and  dwelt  in  her  heart  as  long  as 
she  lived. 

The  enmities  which  pursued  Mr.  Clay  through 
li  fe,  when  they  did  not  relate  to  the  ' l  corrupt  bar 
gain,  "  found  expression  in  attacks  upon  his  private 
character.  Mrs.  Maury's,  as  well  as  many  similar 
pictures,  should  dispose  of  such  calumnies  in  so  far 
as  they  relate  to  the  gentleness  and  charm  of  his 
domestic  relations. 

' '  He  has  from  nature  a  fund  of  tenderness  and 
sensibility,"  wrote  Mrs.  Smith  in  1829.  "Never 
can  I  forget  the  tears  he  shed  over  his  dying  infant, 
as  it  lay  in  my  lap,  and  he  kneeled  by  my  side. 
With  what  deep  tenderness  did  he  gaze  on  it,  until 
unable  to  witness  its  last  agonies,  he  impressed  a 
long  tender  kiss  on  its  pale  lips,  murmuring  out, 
1  Farewell,  my  little  one,'  and  left  the  chamber  ;  and 
the  next  morning  when  obliged  to  speak  to  me 
about  the  funeral  he  walked  the  room  for  some 
time,  in  mournful  silence,  as  if  struggling  to  com 
pose  his  feelings,  so  as  to  be  able  to  give  his  direc 
tions  with  calmness."  * 

That  he  played  cards  for  money,  especially  in  his 
that  he  raised  horses  for  the  race-track  ; 
that  he  was  a  duelist ;  and  that  he  owned  slaves, 
were  subjects  which  engaged  the  attention  of  his 
iocs.  Were  we  to  make  a  catalogue  of  the  vices  of 
our  leading  public  men,  not  more  than  a  few  of 
them  would  be  found  to  be  so  free  from  serious  re 
proach  on  moral  grounds.  Games  of  chance  were 
general  pastimes  in  the  early  history  of  America, 
and  we  are  not  sufficiently  free  from  their  influences 

1  First  Forty  Years,  pp.  301-302. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        411 

to  day  to  be  able  to  boast  of  our  superior  position. 
The  racing  of  horses  was  an  amusement  for  every 
inhabitant  of  England  and  America  for  many  gen 
erations,  and  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  it  has 
not  advantages  over  most  of  our  newer  forms  of 
sport.  Mr.  Clay  heartily  denounced  dueling,  though 
in  his  early  life  his  ardent  temperament  and  the 
custom  of  his  neighborhood  made  it  difficult  to  re 
sist  it  under  great  provocation.1  He  sincerely  de 
nounced  slavery,  though  he  continued  to  own 
negroes,  and  as  late  as  1850  spoke  to  his  son  Thomas 
about  purchasing  a  few  more  because  of  the  impos 
sibility  of  hiring  labor  in  Kentucky. 

His  negroes  enjoyed  only  the  kindest  treatment. 
Mrs.  Clay  did  everything  for  their  comfort  in  illness 
and  old  age.  Aaron  and  Charles  followed  Mr.  Clay 
faithfully  on  his  journeys,  and  not  one  at  "  Ash 
land  "  could  be  persuaded  to  leave  so  good  a  home 
even  after  he  was  emancipated.  Clay's  friends  were 
constantly  making  him  gifts  of  all  kinds  in  testimony 
of  their  affection,  and  one  in  Alabama  left  him  by 
will  twenty-five  or  thirty  slaves.  He  at  once 
paid  their  way  to  New  Orleans,  put  them  upon  a 
ship  and  sent  them  to  Liberia.2 

In  his  last  will  of  July  10,  1851,  Mr.  Clay  made 
careful  stipulations,  similar  to  those  which  he 
recommended  to  the  state  of  Kentucky,  concerning 
the  general  emancipation  of  his  slaves  and  their 
transportation  to  Africa.  Such  as  were  born  after 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  Abraham  Lincoln  once  went 
out  to  fight  and  for  a  much  smaller  matter  than  any  which  ever 
called  Henry  Clay. 

2  This  fact  is  mentioned  in   his  speech  as  president  of   the 
American  Colonization  Society  at  Washington,  1827. 


412  HENRY  CLAY 

January  1,  1850,  he  specified  should  be  free,  the 
males  at  twenty-eight  and  the  females  at  twenty- 
five.  For  three  years  prior  to  this  time  they  should 
be  hired  for  wages  which,  forming  a  fund,  should 
be  used  to  defray  the  cost  of  carrying  them  out  of 
the  country.  Again,  their  children  should  be  free 
at  birth  and  put  under  a  system  of  apprenticeship 
until  they  should  reach  the  age  of  twenty-one,  when 
they  in  turn  should  be  deported  to  Africa.  If  slaves 
were  sold,  he  directed  that  "  the  members  of  fam 
ilies  shall  not  be  separated  without  their  consent." 

It  was  said  during  his  life,  and  the  statement  was 
repeated  after  his  death,  that  Mr.  Clay  was  given  to 
over-indulgence  in  liquors.  His  friend  and  ex 
ecutor,  Mr.  Harrison,  absolutely  denies  it.  Mr. 
Clay  was,  of  course,  not  a  total  abstainer  at  a  time 
when  the  use  of  wine  was  general,  if  not  universal, 
but  that  he  ever  injured  his  powers  by  intemper 
ance  is  impossible  to  prove.  One  after  another  of 
these  charges,  made  as  they  were,  in  the  heat  of 
party  strife,  when  we  judge  Clay  by  the  standards 
of  the  community  and  the  time  in  which  he  lived, 
falls  to  the  ground  and  needs  no  serious  treatment 
at  the  hands  of  his  biographers. 

It  was  likewise  said  that  Clay  was  lacking  in  re 
ligious  sentiment  and  that  his  thought  of  such  mat 
ters  came  at  the  last  hour.  No  reader  of  his  speeches 
can  escape  the  conclusion  that  he  always  had  great 
reverence  for  the  God  reigning  over  all  ;  his  al- 
Insions  to  the  hand  of  Providence  are  frequent  and 
bear  evidence  of  flowing  from  a  sincere  heart. 

Mr.  Clay  became  a  communicant  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  1847.  He  had  been  a  pewholder  in 


PERSONAL  CHAEACTEKISTICS        413 

Christ  Church,  Lexington,  from  the  time  of  his 
marriage,  was  a  constant  attendant  there  when  at 
home,  and  was  always  deeply  interested  in  its  wel 
fare.  His  father-in-law,  Colonel  Hart,  was  a  mem 
ber  of  this  church,  the  first  Episcopal  church  in 
Kentucky,  and  a  liberal  friend  to  it.  Mr.  Clay  was 
baptized  in  the  parlor  at  "  Ashland,"  June  22, 
1847,  and  the  rector  of  Christ  Church,  the  Eev. 
Edward  F.  Berkley,  who  officiated,  gave  an  ac 
count  of  the  ceremony.  It  had  been  stated  that 
Mr.  Clay  had  been  immersed  in  a  pond  on  his  estate, 
and  Mr.  Berkley  wrote  to  one  who  had  made  in 
quiry  concerning  the  truth  of  this  report:  "I 
baptized  Mr.  Clay  in  his  parlor  at  *  Ashland,7  at 
the  same  time  administering  the  same  ordinance  to 
his  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Thomas  H.  Clay,  and 
four  of  her  children,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1847,  a  few 
special  friends  being  present.  The  water  was  ap 
plied  by  the  hand,  out  of  a  large  cut-glass  urn  which 
was  numbered  among  his  many  rare  presents  and 
had  been  given  him  by  a  manufacturer  of  such 
wares  in  Pittsburg.  It  was  said  that  this  was  the 
largest  piece  of  cut  glass  then  in  existence.  It  may 
interest  you  to  know  that  in  the  baptismal  service 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  there  are  asked 
certain  questions  which  the  candidate  is  supposed 
to  answer  from  the  book.  Seeing  that  Mr.  Clay  did 
not  have  a  Prayer-Book  in  his  hand,  I  suggested 
that  the  use  of  one  might  enable  him  more  readily 
to  reply  to  the  questions.  He  replied,  '  I  think  I 
shall  be  able  to  answer  them,'  and  the  readiness 
with  which  he  answered,  and  his  familiarity  with 
the  service  gave  evidence  that  he  had  made  it  a 


414  HENEY  CLAY 

personal    study   and   was   ready  to  stand    by   his 
declaration." 

Mr.  Clay  tben  was  seventy  years  old.  He  bad 
always  been  interested  in  religious  subjects,  but  bis 
life  was  spent  amid  tbe  turmoil  of  politics  for  so 
many  years  tbat  be  felt  tbe  time  bad  not  come  for 
tbe  profession  of  bis  faitb.  In  tbe  Senate,  in  1832, 
wben  be  recommended  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
on  account  of  tbe  approacb  of  tbe  Asiatic  cholera, 
be  said  : 

"  I  am  a  member  of  no  religious  sect,  and  I  am 
not  a  professor  of  religion.  I  regret  tbat  I  am  not. 
I  wisb  tbat  I  was,  and  I  trust  tbat  I  sball  be.  I  have, 
and  always  bave  bad,  a  profound  regard  for  Chris 
tianity,  tbe  religion  of  my  fathers,  and  for  its  rites, 
its  usages,  and  its  observances.  Among  these,  tbat 
which  is  proposed  in  this  resolution,  has  always  com 
manded  the  respect  of  the  good,  and  tbe  devout,  and 
I  hope  it  will  obtain  the  concurrence  of  the  Senate." 

Many  extracts  from  Mr.  Clay's  speeches  could  be 
given  to  show  his  religious  sympathy.  He  always 
felt  and  exhibited  profound  respect  for  the  religions 
beliefs  of  others,  and  his  charity  extended  alike  to 
Catholic  and  Jew.  The  only  daughter  of  his  be 
loved  daughter,  Mrs.  Erwin,  wrote  to  him  of  her 
desire  to  become  a  nun,  and  in  reply  he  said  : 

"  Your  happiness,  my  dear  grandchild,  has  ever 
been  an  object  of  intense  anxiety  and  solicitude  to 
us.  If  it  is  to  be  promoted  by  the  execution  of  tbe 
purpose  you  bave  in  view,  I  would  not,  if  I  could, 
dissuade  you  from  it.  I  have  no  prejudice  against 
the  Catholic  religion.  On  the  contrary,  I  sincerely 
believe  that  Catholics  who  are  truly  religious  are  as 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        415 

sure  of  eternal  happiness  in  another  world  as  the 
most  pious  Protestants.  All  that  I  hope  is  that  you 
will  not  act  on  any  sudden  impulse,  or  ill-considered 
and  immature  resolution,  but  that  you  will  deliber 
ately,  and  again  and  again  examine  your  own  heart, 
and  consult  your  best  judgment  before  you  consum 
mate  your  intention.  Write  me  at  Washington, 
and,  in  the  event  of  your  taking  the  veil,  let  us 
know  what  provision  exists  for  your  support  and 
comfort,  and  whether  any,  or  what  pecuniary  aid 
may  be  proper,  or  expedient  from  your  friends.'7 

It  was  reported  that  Mr.  Clay,  in  a  speech  in  the 
Senate,  had  used  the  word  i '  Jew  "  as  a  term  of  re 
proach  and  the  following  letter  from  Solomon  Etting, 
of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Clay's  reply,  are  of  interest : 

"Baltimore,  July  15,  1832. 
" DEAR  SIR: 

*  *  You  know  that  I  am  your  friend,  and, 
therefore,  I  write  to  you  freely.  Several  of  the  re 
ligious  societies  to  which  I  belong,  myself  included, 
feel  both  surprised  and  hurt  by  the  manner  in  which 
you  introduced  the  expression  '  the  Jew '  in  debate 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  evidently  apply 
ing  it  as  a  reproachful  designation  of  a  man  whom 
you  considered  obnoxious  in  character  and  conduct. 
11 1  do  not  know  the  person  you  allude  to.  The 
term  'the  Jew,'  as  used  by  you,  is  considered  il 
liberal.  If  therefore  you  have  no  antipathy  to  the 
people  of  that  religious  society,  I  can  readily  be 
lieve  you  will  have  no  objection  to  explain  to  me, 
by  a  line,  what  induced  the  expression. 

"  I  am,  with  respect  and  esteem, 
"  Yourobt.  St., 

"SOL.  ETTING. 
"How.  H.  CLAY, 

"U.  S.  Senate,  Washington." 


416  HENRY  CLAY 

In  answer  to  this  letter  Mr.  Clay  wrote  : 

"  Washington,  16th  July,  1832. 
"MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

* '  I  regret  extremely  to  perceive  from  your 
letter  of  yesterday  that  you  have  thought  it  possible 
that  a  remark  of  mine  applied  to  a  subordinate  offi 
cer  of  the  customs,  who  was  in  attendance  here,  was 
liable  to  an  unfavorable  interpretation  in  respect  to 
Jews  in  general.  Nothing  could  have  been  further 
from  my  intention.  The  remark  was  intended  to 
describe  a  person,  and  not  a  nation.  It  was  strictly, 
moreover,  defensive.  Some  of  my  friends  who  were 
in  the  Senate  had  been  attacked  by  General  Hayne, 
as  I  thought  rudely,  for  the  assistance  which  they 
had  rendered  about  the  tariff. 

"  In  reply,  I  said  that  they  were  not  the  only  per 
sons  attending  on  that  object,  but  that  on  the  other 
side  Moses  Myers  (or  Myers  Moses,  for  I  do  not  know 
his  proper  designation)  had  been  summoned  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  might  be  seen  daily 
skipping  about  the  House,  and  I  proceeded  to  de 
scribe  his  person. 

"I  judge  men,  not  exclusively  by  their  nation, 
religion,  etc.,  but  by  their  personal  conduct. 

"I  have  always  had  the  happiness  to  enjoy  the 
friendship  of  many  Jews,  among  whom  one  of  the 
Gratzs  of  Lexington,  formerly  of  Philadelphia, 
stands  in  the  most  intimate  and  friendly  relations  to 
me,  but  I  cannot  doubt  that  there  are  bad  Jews,  as 
well  as  bad  Christians,  and  bad  Mohammedans. 

"I  hope,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  will  consider  this 
letter  perfectly  satisfactory. 

"  With  great  regard, 

"  I  am  truly  yours, 

"H.  CLAY. 

"  SOLOMON  ETTING,  ESQ." 

In  1849  Mr.  Clay  was  a  lay  delegate  to  the  Dio 
cesan  Convention  at  Frankfort,  and  it  was  said 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        417 

that  u  this  great  and  good  man  entered  into  the  de 
liberations  of  the  convention  with  all  the  interest 
and  animation  he  was  wont  to  manifest  on  every 
subject  which  concerned  the  welfare  of  his  fellow 
men. ' ' 

Unlike  most  Kentuckians,  Mr.  Clay  was  enabled 
to  go  through  life  without  a  military  title.  No  one 
ever  called  him  l  *  Colonel  "  ;  he  was  always  Mr. 
Clay.  Being  a  kind,  sympathetic  neighbor,  he  was 
greatly  beloved  in  Lexington.  The  interests  of  the 
town  were  very  dear  to  him.  For  many  years  he  was 
a  trustee  of  Transylvania  University,  and  at  one  time 
was  a  professor  of  law  in  this  college  which  was 
the  "  pride  and  hope  of  the  commonwealth."  It 
was  "the  first  temple  of  science  erected  in  the 
wilds  of  the  West"  he  once  wrote  his  friend  Sena 
tor  Johnston,  when  bespeaking  for  it  a  favor  at  the 
hands  of  Congress.  To  his  sense  of  propriety  and 
his  interest  in  the  University,  that  institution  owed 
a  legacy  which  came  to  it  in  a  time  of  great  financial 
difficulty.  Among  the  wealthy  citizens  of  Lexing 
ton  was  Colonel  James  Morrison,  a  friend  and  client 
of  Mr.  Clay,  upon  whom  he  called  to  write  his  will. 
After  having  provided  for  his  family,  there  was 
still  a  large  sum  of  money  nndevised.  Of  this 
Colonel  Morrison  asked  to  be  allowed  to  make 
one  of  Mr.  Clay's  sons  the  legatee,  that  son  hav 
ing  been  named  for  Colonel  Morrison.  Mr.  Clay 
promptly  declined  the  gift,  saying  that  Transyl 
vania  University  would  be  a  proper  beneficiary. 
This  suggestion  was  accepted  and  the  pressing  needs 
of  the  college  were  thus  relieved/ 

In  all  business  matters  Mr.  01  av  was  most  method- 


418  HENRY  CLAY 

ical  and,  though  twice  heavily  embarrassed  from 
having  become  surety  for  others,  his  credit  was 
never  impaired.  His  uniform  custom  was  to  pay  a 
debt  as  soon  as  it  was  incurred,  and  his  style  of  liv 
ing  was  never  marred  by  ostentation.  l '  In  this 
connection,"  says  Mr.  Harrison,  "it  may  not  be 
amiss  to  notice  a  document,  probably  the  last  one 
ever  executed  by  Mr.  Clay,  which  illustrates  more 
forcibly  than  any  other  I  have  ever  seen,  not  only 
his  exactness  in  business  matters,  but  his  sense  of 
justice  and  the  generosity  of  his  nature  in  urging 
the  fulfilment  of  a  verbal  promise  he  had  made 
some  years  before.  This  document  bears  no  date. 
His  son  Thomas,  by  whom  it  was  written  at  his 
father's  bedside,  and  at  his  dictation,  informed  me 
that  it  was  subscribed  to  only  a  few  days  before  his 
death.  The  document  referred  to,  now  before  me, 
is  as  follows : 

"  '•Memoranda  of  H.  Clay 

"  *  I  leave  with  you  [his  son  Thomas]  a  check  on 
Messrs.  Corcoran  &  Riggs  for  any  balance  standing 
to  my  credit  in  the  books  of  their  bank  at  the  time 
you  present  the  check.  The  balance  now  is  about 
sixteen  hundred  dollars,  but  it  may  be  diminished 
before  you  have  occasion  to  apply  for  it. 

u  'Mr.  Underwood  will  draw  from  the  secretary 
of  the  Senate  any  balance  due  me  there  and  pay  it 
over  to  you. 

"  i  Out  of  these  funds  I  wish  you  to  pay  Dr.  Hall's 
bill,  the  apothecary's  bill,  and  Dr.  Francis  Jack 
son's  bill,  of  Philadelphia. 

"  l  Whatever  may  be  necessary  to  pay  those  debts, 
and  may  be  necessary  to  bear  your  expenses  to  Ken 
tucky,  had  better  be  appropriated  and  reserved  ac 
cordingly,  and  the  balance  to  be  converted  in  a  bank 


PEKSONAL  CHARACTEBISTICS        419 

check  on  New  York  which  will  be  safer  to  carry  and 
more  valuable  in  Kentucky. 

"  i  I  have  settled  with  James  G.  Marshall,  my 
servant,  and  at  the  end  of  this  mouth  he  will  have 
paid  ine  all  that  I  have  advanced  him,  and  I  shall 
owe  him  two  dollars.  The  deed  for  his  lot  in  De 
troit,  which  he  assigned  to  me  as  security  for  being 
his  endorser  on  a  note  in  bank,  is  in  my  little  trunk 
in  your  mother's  room  in  a  bundle  marked,  u  Notes 
and  valuable  papers.'7  I  wish  the  deed  taken  out 
and  delivered  to  James,  as  the  matter  is  settled. 

* '  '  The  Messrs.  Hunter  who  bought  my  Illinois 
laud,  have  been  very  punctual  in  paying  me  the 
purchase  money  as  it  became  due  heretofore. 

"  t  The  last  pay ment  of  two  thousand  dollars  is  due 
me  at  Christmas.  They  have  written  me  that  they 
will  come  over  and  pay  it,  and  at  the  same  time  re 
ceive  a  pair  of  Durham  calves  as  a  present  which  I 
promised  them.  I  wish  that  promise  fulfilled.  The 
heifer  I  bought  from  Mr.  Hunt,  a  descendant  of  the 
imported  cow,  Lucretia,  I  design  as  one  of  the  ani 
mals  to  be  presented. 

"  'There  is  a  note  for  upward  of  a  thousand  dol 
lars  among  my  papers,  in  the  pocketbook,  well  se 
cured  and  payable  in  New  Orleans  next  November. 
My  executors  ought  to  send  it  there  for  collection. 

"  <H.  CLAY.'" 

Another  instance  of  his  conscientious  sense  of 
honor  in  business  matters  is  found  in  a  fact  con 
nected  with  the  failure  of  his  son  Thomas,  while  en 
gaged  in  the  manufacture  of  hemp.  The  young  man 
owed  his  father  a  larger  sum  than  the  aggregate  of 
his  indebtedness  to  all  other  creditors,  yet  Mr.  Clay 
gave  every  dollar  of  his  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  the  effects  to  those  creditors. 

A  part,  at  least,  of  Mr.  Clay's  power  of  winning 
and  holding  friends  was  due  to  his  ability  to  pro- 


420  HENKY  CLAY 

nounce  their  names,  to  remember  faces  and  to  utter 
the  apt  word  or  phrase  at  the  .right  moment. 

Hamilton  Fish  used  to  recall  a  happy  instance  of 
this  kind  at  a  public  reception  in  New  York  City 
in  1835.  Fish  was  chairman  of  the  Whig  commit 
tee  appointed  to  receive  the  great  leader.  There  was 
an  old  Virginian  named  Hackett  who  had  much  po 
litical  influence  in  one  of  the  wards  of  the  city.  Mr. 
Fish  knew  him  to  be  an  anti-Clay  man  and,  wishing 
to  conciliate  him,  brought  him  up  and  introduced 
him  by  name.  Clay  in  his  beautiful  voice  spoke  to  the 
old  fellow,  who  was  now  compelled  to  say  something. 

"Mr.  Clay,"  he  remarked  awkwardly,  "aren't 
you  very  tired  of  shaking  hands  with  so  many  peo 
ple  ? "  "  Oh,  no,  sir,"  Clay  replied.  "  How  can  I 
be  tired  when  my  fellow  citizens  have  been  at  such 
trouble  to  call  upon  me?  Besides,  Mr.  Hackett, 
you  must  remember  that  I  come  from  a  state  where 
men  never  tire." 

"That's  so,"  said  the  man,  captivated  imme 
diately.  "  Old  Virginny  never  tire."  l 

Once  during  a  visit  to  Mississippi  Mr.  Clay 
stopped  for  a  few  minutes  at  a  place  called  Clinton. 
A  crowd  gathered  around  the  train  and  an  old  man 
with  one  eye  made  his  way  to  the  front. 

' '  Don' t  introduce  me, ' '  he  said,  i  i  for  I  want  to 
see  if  Mr.  Clay  will  know  me." 

"Where  did  I  last  see  you?"  asked  Mr.  Clay, 
taking  the  old  man's  hand. 

"  In  Kentucky."  he  answered. 

"  Have  you  lost  that  eye  since  I  saw  you  f  " 

"Yes." 

1  Interview  with  Fish  iu  New  York  Tribune,  January,  1879. 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        421 

"Turn  the  good  eye  to  me  that  I  may  see  your 
profile. " 

"  I  have  it,"  said  Clay.  "Did  you  not  give  me 
a  verdict  as  a  juror  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  twenty-one 
years  ago?" 

a  I  did,  I  did !  "  exclaimed  the  man  in  delight. 

1 '  And  is  not  your  name  Hardwicke  ?  ? ' 

"It  is,"  and  turning  to  his  friends  he  said  tri 
umphantly,  "  Didn't  I  tell  you  that  Harry  Clay 
would  know  me,  though  he  hadn't  seen  me  for  over 
twenty  years  ?  Great  men  never  forget  faces. ' ' 

Men  in  Mr.  Clay's  audiences  often  walked  thirty 
or  even  fifty  miles  to  hear  him  speak.  They 
were  in  a  sense  the  delegates  from  their  little  com 
munities  and  for  days  after  their  return  they  were 
obliged  to  detail  the  account  of  their  trip, — how 
Clay  had  looked  and  what  he  had  said.  To  multi 
tudes  who  could  never  see  or  hear  him,  his  name  , 
thus  became  a  household  word. 

Mr.  Clay  used  to  take  much  delight  in  annoying 
James  Buchanan,  both  because  of  his  eccentricities 
and  the  fact  that  he  seemed  to  have  had  a  hand  in 
spreading  the  "  corrupt  bargain  "  story.  Buchanan 
had  been  a  Federalist  and  in  the  Senate  he  was  once 
called  upon  to  defend  himself  against  a  charge  of 
disloyalty  during  the  War  of  1812.  He  stated  on 
this  occasion  that  he  had  joined  a  company  of  vol 
unteers  at  the  time  of  the  British  attack  upon  Bal 
timore.  "True,"  he  added,  "I  was  not  in  any 
engagement,  as  the  British  had  retreated  before  I 
arrived." 

"You  marched  to  Baltimore  though?"  Clay  in 
terposed. 


422  HENRY  CLAY 

"  Yes,"  answered  Buchanan,  promptly. 

1  i  Armed  and  equipped  f  ' ' 

u  Yes,  armed  and  equipped." 

"  But  the  British  had  retreated  when  you  ar 
rived?  "  pursued  Mr.  Clay. 

"Yes." 

"  Then,"  continued  Clay,  "  will  the  senator  from 
Pennsylvania  be  good  enough  to  inform  us  whether 
the  British  retreated  in  consequence  of  his  valiantly 
marching  to  the  relief  of  Baltimore,  or  wyhether  he 
marched  to  the  relief  of  Baltimore  in  consequence 
of  the  British  having  already  retreated?  " 

The  galleries  broke  out  into  loud  laughter  and 
Buchanan  boiled  writh  anger,  but  he  wisely  re 
frained  from  undertaking  a  reply. 

Once  Clay  wished  to  bring  some  of  the  Democratic 
leaders  into  a  discussion.  He  charged  them  with 
lying  back  while  they  sent  their  inferiors  out  upon 
the  skirmish  line.  i  i  Come  out ! ' '  said  the  great 
Whig.  "  Come  out  like  men  and  defend  your  posi 
tion  !  Let  us  hear  from  you  !  I  call  for  the  leaders 
of  the  party." 

Silas  Wright  and  James  Buchanan  sat  near  to 
gether.  It  was  evident  that  Clay  directed  his  re 
marks  at  them.  Wright  looked  up  and  then 
resumed  his  writing.  It  would  have  been  better  if 
Buchanan  had  pursued  the  same  course,  but  he  was 
provoked  to  say : 

"  I  am  surprised  at  the  language  used  by  the  gen 
tleman  from  Kentucky.  He  knows  well,  and  the 
Senate  can  bear  me  witness,  that  I  am  prompt  and 
direct  in  expressing  my  opinions  on  subjects  as  they 
arise,  but  I  choose  to  take  my  own  time  and  to  con- 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        423 

suit  my  own  counsels.  The  gentleman  from  Ken 
tucky  need  not  expect  to  force  me  into  this  discus 
sion,  or  any  other,  till  I  choose  to  engage  in  it." 

Mr.  Clay  in  his  softest  and  most  charming  tones 
assured  Mr.  Buchanan  that  he  had  intended  no 
reference  to  him.  "  Far  from  it,"  he  continued  de 
liberately,  articulating  each  word.  "I  called  for 
the  leaders  of  the  party." 

Buchanan  appealed  to  the  Senate,  declaring  that 
the  senator  from  Kentucky  had  fixed  his  eyes  upon 
him,  to  which  Clay  blandly  replied  that  he  could 
easily  conceive  of  the  gentleman  falling  into  error. 
"I  often  suppose,"  said  he,  "  that  the  senator  is 
looking  at  me  when  in  fact  he  looks  quite  another 
way,"  a  reference  to  Buchanan's  oblique  vision, 
which  was  hugely  enjoyed. 

A  friend  afterward  took  Clay  a  little  to  task  for 
the  sally  but  he  had  no  regrets.  "  Confound  him  !  " 
he  exclaimed,  recalling  the  Peunsylvanian's  part  in 
circulating  the  "  corrupt  bargain"  story,  "  he 
writes  letters." 

Once  John  W.  Forney,  the  newspaper  editor  of 
Philadelphia,  went  with  Edwin  Forrest,  the  great 
American  tragedian,  to  call  upon  Clay  in  Washing 
ton.  The  conversation  turned  to  Senator  Soule,  of 
Louisiana,  of  whom  Forney  spoke  favorably.  Clay's 
eyes  flashed.  They  had  lately  had  some  unpleas 
ant  passages  in  the  Senate.  "  He  is  nothing  but 
an  actor,  sir,"  exclaimed  Clay,  "a  mere  actor." 
Then,  suddenly  recollecting  Forrest's  presence,  he 
added  with  a  graceful  motion  of  the  hand,  address 
ing  the  tragedian, — "  I  mean,  my  dear  sir,  a  mere 
French  actor." 


424  HENRY  CLAY 

Mr.  Clay  had  a  large  collection  of  snuff-boxes,  as 
well  as  of  canes,  to  distribute  by  will  among  bis  vari 
ous  friends.  He,  however,  did  not  take  the  weed  to 
excess  lest  it  injure  his  splendid  voice.  On  this 
point  he  used  to  tell  a  story  of  General  Dearborn. 
It  was  the  day  after  the  dinner  in  Washington  to 
General  Lafayette.  They  stopped  at  a  tobacconist's 
shop  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  get  some  fine 
Maccaboy,  when  the  general  took  occasion  to  re 
mark  that  snulf  inj  ured  some  voices,  and  he  continued 
in  the  piping  voice,  which  it  had  left  him, — "  but  it 
has  never  affected  mine  in  the  least.7'  Clay  in  tell 
ing  this  story  used  to  imitate  the  thin  nasal  tones 
in  which  these  words  were  said  with  the  most  hu 
morous  effect. 

By  sheer  personal  grace  and  charm  he  could  do 
successfully  what  others  might  not  safely  attempt. 
In  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  while  arguing 
a  case  at  some  length,  he  paused  in  the  midst  of  his 
speech  and  stepping  up  airily  to  one  of  the  justices, 
who  was  holding  a  snuff-box,  took  a  pinch  with  the 
remark,  "I  see  your  honor  sticks  to  the  Scotch." 
Justice  Story  afterward  said  of  this  incident:  "I 
have  been  on  this  bench  thirty -four  years  and  I  do 
not  believe  there  is  a  man  in  this  country  who  could 
have  done  that  but  Henry  Clay. ' ' 

When  he  could  speak  patiently  of  Jackson  at  all, 
it  was  a  real  pleasure  to  hear  him  relate  this  story 
illustrative  of  the  state  of  culture  existing  in  "  Old 
Hickory's  "  household.  One  morning  Mrs.  Jackson 
arose  with  a  cold.  When  she  was  asked  how  she 
had  come  by  it,  she  said,  it  was  because  "  during  the 
night  Gineral  Jackson  kept  kicking  the  kivers  off. " 


PEKSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        425 

On  one  occasion,  it  is  related,  that  Mr.  Clay  was 
brought  face  to  face  with  Francis  P.  Blair,  after  the 
latter  had  gone  over  to  Jackson.  Blair  was  one  of 
the  publishers  of  the  Frankfort  Argus,  which  had 
joined  in  the  cry  of  "  bargain  and  corruption." 
Clay  had  ridden  over  to  the  state  capital  on  legal 
business,  and  on  alighting  from  his  horse  at  the 
tavern  door,  confronted  Blair,  who  rather  awk 
wardly  tried  to  escape  the  meeting. 

"How  do  you  do,  Mr.  Blair?"  said  the  " Great 
Commoner  "  as  he  extended  his  hand. 

"  Pretty  well,  I  thank  you,  sir,"  Blair  responded 
with  some  embarrassment.  "  How  did  you  find  the 
roads  from  Lexington  here  ?  7 ' 

"The  roads  are  very  bad,  Mr.  Blair,"  Clay  re 
turned  in  his  most  gracious  way,  "very  bad,  and  I 
wish,  sir,  that  you  would  mend  your  ways."  l 

In  some  of  Captain  Marryat's  wanderings  in  this 
country  he  came  to  Lexington.  As  he  brought  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  Clay,  he  was  asked  to 
dine  at  i  i  Ashland. ' ?  His  manners  were  in  marked 
contrast  to  those  of  the  other  guests,  who  had  been 
invited  to  meet  him.  During  the  dinner  Mr.  Clay 
hospitably  urged  Captain  Marryat  to  have  another 
glass  of  wine  which  he  rudely  declined,  setting  down 
his  glass  with  such  violence  that  it  was  shivered  and 
saying  in  loud  tones,  "  No  more  wine  ;  I  have  had 
enough." 

Thereupon  Mr.  Clay  turned  to  another  guest,  and 
with  great  courtesy,  said :  ' l  Lewis,  you  will  try 
this  wine,  will  you  not?  You  have  not  had  too 
much. ' J 

1  Beu  Perley  Poore,  JReminisccnces,  p.  104. 


426  HENKY  CLAY 

Mr.  Clay's  readiness  in  retort  is  again  shown  in 
the  case  of  a  passage  in  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  with  General  Sinyth  of  Virginia,  who  had  at 
tained  an  unenviable  notoriety  for  long  and  prosy 
speeches.  In  the  midst  of  a  tedious  discourse  he 
said  to  Clay  : 

* l  You  speak  for  the  present  generation  ;  I  speak 
for  posterity." 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Clay,  "  and  you  seem  re 
solved  to  continue  speaking  until  your  audience 
arrives. '  • 

i  i  You  do  not  remember  my  name  ?  "  a  lady  said 
one  time  upon  meeting  Henry  Clay. 

"No,"  was  the  prompt  and  gallant  response, 
' i  for  when  we  last  met  long  ago  I  was  sure  your 
beauty  and  accomplishments  would  very  soon  com 
pel  you  to  change  it." 

The  faith  which  Clay's  friends  reposed  in  him  is 
illustrated  in  a  story  he  used  sometimes  to  relate. 
There  was  a  man  in  Kentucky  who  was  everywhere 
known  as  "  Old  Sandusky."  He  and  his  neighbors 
closely  followed.  Clay's  course  while  he  was  ne 
gotiating  the  Treaty  of  Ghent.  In  the  newspaper 
reports  of  the  proceedings  were  seen  now  and  again 
the  words  sine  qua  non.  No  one  knew  what  they 
meant.  "  Old  Sandusky"  was  somewhat  perplexed. 
"  Sine  qua  non,"  he  said  slowly  repeating  the  Latin. 
"Why,  sine  qua  non  is  three  islands  in  Passama- 
quoddy  Bay,  and  Harry  Clay  is  the  last  man  to  give 
them  up." 

Measured  by  his  experience  as  a  presidential  can 
didate,  Clay's  life  may  be  said  to  have  been  unsuc 
cessful.  He,  of  course,  had  an  ambition  to  attain  to 


PEBSONAL  CHAKACTERISTICS        427 

the  highest  office  in  the  land,  but  unlike  Webster's 
which  was  "  a  little  too  much  mixed  with  self-love," 
as  Governor  Letcher  one  time  wrote  to  Mr.  Critten- 
den,  he  was  "  always  ready  to  surrender  it  for  the 
possible  hope  of  promoting  his  country's  good." 
Clay  was  ( i  more  elevated,  more  disinterested,  more 
patriotic  "  than  the  great  Xew  England  leader. 

As  a  presidential  candidate  Clay,  however, 
seemed  to  be  pursued  by  the  genius  of  misfortune. 
That  he  would  have  been  very  glad  to  have  been 
the  choice  of  the  country  as  early  as  in  1825,  when 
he  gave  his  influence  to  John  Quincy  Adams,  is  un 
deniable.  He  made  no  movement  whatever  to  op 
pose  Mr.  Adams  as  a  candidate  for  the  second  term, 
in  1828,  a  kind  of  disloyalty  of  which  he  could  not 
have  been  guilty.  He  did  not  think  of  himself  as  a 
candidate  at  this  time. 

In  1832  he  opposed  Andrew  Jackson  on  questions 
of  principle  sincerely  felt,  but  it  was  impossible  to  win 
against  the  military  prestige  of  his  opponent,  His 
own  Whig  party  was  new  and  unfit  for  the  contest 
in  a  time  of  remarkable  ferment  and  excitement. 

In  1836  the  country  was  still  completely  in  Jack 
son's  hands  and  Van  Buren  was  elected  over  several 
Whigs,  not  formally  nominated  for  the  position. 

In  1840  when  Clay  should  have  been  nominated 
except  for  the  treachery  of  some  leaders  in  the  con 
vention,  who  were  determined  to  bring  out  Harri 
son,  the  Whigs  were  successful  by  overwhelming 
majorities. 

In  1844  when  he  was  nominated,  the  situation  was 
rendered  much  less  favorable  by  the  schism  in  the 
party  created  by  Tyler,  and  he  was  defeated  only  by 


428  HENRY  CLAY 

a  few  thousand  votes  in  New  York,  which  were  per  - 
haps  fraudulently  cast. 

In  1848  he  was  persuaded  to  allow  the  use  of  his 
name  only  by  the  representations  of  a  number  of  th'i 
leaders  in  Ohio.  They  insisted  upon  his  candidacy  ; 
he  yielded  for  the  sake  of  the  principles  involved  in 
the  contest,  and  to  prevent  the  nomination  of  ;i 
military  leader,  incompetent  in  civil  affairs  ;  he  was 
deserted  by  those  who  had  importuned  him  ami 
Taylor  was  nominated  and  elected. 

Thus,  not  taking  account  of  the  election  of  1824, 
Clay  was  twice  defeated  in  the  convention  in  yeart, 
when  he,  in  all  likelihood,  would  have  been  elected, 
and  twice  defeated  by  the  people  when  his  name 
was  regularly  brought  before  them  as  a  presidential 
candidate  and  when,  it  would  appear,  a  Whig 
could  not  have  been  chosen  in  any  case.  Such  a 
record  of  events  can  fairly  be  ascribed  only  to  re 
markable  misfortune.  It  led  naturally  to  feelings 
of  humiliation  and  disappointment.  The  mortifica 
tion,  however,  was  always  greater  to  his  friends 
than  to  Clay  himself  and  it  was  by  them,  after  all, 
rather  than  by  any  ambition  of  his  own,  that  he 
was  urged  into  the  campaigns. 

He  always  believed  and  said  that  it  was  no  man's 
right  to  decline  public  service  unless  for  excellent 
reasons,  and  this  became  a  rule^ofjiisjife^  More 
over,  no  one  can  well  refuse  a  post  which  has  not 
been  offered  to  him,  and  this  fact  deterred  him  from 
public  statements  at  times  when  his  diligent  enemies 
accused  him  of  seeking  the  presidency.  His  devotion 
to  the  principles  of  his  party,  which  he  had  created 
in  most  instances,  led  him  to  wish  to  make  them 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS        429 

prevail.  From  the  constantly  evinced  attachment  of 
his  friends,  no  man  had  more  reason  to  believe  that 
he  was  a  suitable  instrument  to  represent  these  prin 
ciples  before  the  country,  and  thus  he  was  put  in  the 
false  light  of  seeming  to  be  an  aspirant  for  the 
high  office.  If  he  had  held  it,  it  is  not  likely  that 
his  reputation  would  have  been  greatly  the  gainer 
by  the  experience,  however  much  he  should  have 
ornamented  the  position.  His  name  might  have 
been  made  more  familiar  to  the  school-children  as 
they  scan  and  recite  the  list  of  our  Presidents.  But 
it  is  as  a  parliamentary  leader  and  debater  that  he 
shone.  For  this  service  did  nature  especially  en 
dow  him  with  his  splendid  gifts,  and  in  this  role  did 
he  play  his  distinguished  part  in  the  history  of  the 
republic. 

If  he  could  have  forwarded  his  plans  for  the 
colonization  of  the  negroes,  the  gain  would  have 
been  great.  "  Henry  Clay,  a  Kentucky  slaveholder, 
would  have  saved  us,"  wrote  Andrew  D.  White. 
"Infinitely  better  than  the  violent  solution  pro 
posed  to  us  was  his  large  statesmanlike  plan  of 
purchasing  the  slave  children  as  they  were  born 
and  setting  them  free.  Without  bloodshed  and  at 
cost  of  the  merest  nothing  as  compared  to  the  cost 
of  the  Civil  War,  he  would  thus  have  solved  the 
problem  ;  but  it  was  not  so  to  be.  The  guilt  of  the 
nation  was  not  to  be  so  cheaply  atoned  for.  Fa 
natics  North  and  South  opposed  him.'7  * 

1  Autobiography,  Vol.  I,  p.  55. 


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Adams,  1876. 

ADAMS,  HENRY.     John  Randolph,  1883. 

BROOKS,  ERASTUS.     Address  of,  entitled,  "  Leading  Incidents  i  i 
the  Life  of  Henry  Clay,"  1886. 

BALDWIN,  J.  G.     Party  Leaders,  1855. 

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McMASTER,  JOHN  BACH.  A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War.  (7  volumes.) 
1883  et  seq. 

MEIGS,  WILLIAM  M.     The  Life  of  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  1904. 

MALLORY,  DANIEL.  The  Life  and  Speeches  of  the  Hon.  Henry 
Clay.  (2  volumes.)  1844. 

NlLES'  Weekly  Register. 

OBITUARY  ADDRESSES  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the  Hon. 

Henry  Clay  in    the   legislature  of   Kentucky,  February  8, 

1854- 
Addresses   on   the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Henry  Clay, 

Washington,  1852. 

OBSEQUIES  of  Henry  Clay.  Printed  by  the  Common  Council  of 
New  York,  1852. 

PRENTISS,  S.  S.  A  Memoir  of.  Edited  by  his  brother.  (2  vol 
umes.)  1855. 

PRENTICE,  GEORGE  D.     Biography  of  Henry  Clay,  1831. 

POORE,  BEN  PERLEY.  Perley's  Reminiscences  of  Sixty  Years  in 
the  National  Metropolis.  (2  volumes.)  1886. 

QUINCY,  EDMUND.     Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  1867. 
ROOSEVELT,  THEODORE.     Life  of  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  1887. 

SHIPP,  J.  E.  D.  Giant  Days,  or  the  Life  and  Times  of  William  H. 
Crawford,  1909. 

SEATON,  WILLIAM  WINSTON.     A  Biographical  Sketch,  1871. 

SCHOULER,  JAMES.  History  of  the  United  States  of  America  under 
the  Constitution,  1880  et  seq. 

SCHURZ,  CARL.     Life  of  Henry  Clay.     (2  volumes.)     1887. 

SARGENT,  EPES.     Life  and  Public  Services  of  Henry  Clay,  1842. 

New  edition,  1844. 

STANWOOD,  EDWARD.     A  History  of  Presidential  Elections,  1884. 
SMITH,  W.  L.  G.     The  Life  and  Times  of  Lewis  Cass,  1856. 

SEWARD,  WILLIAM  H.  An  Autobiography  with  a  Memoir  by  his 
son,  Frederick  W.  Seward,  1891. 

SUMNER,  WILLIAM  GRAHAM.     Andrew  Jackson,  1883. 
SHEPARD,  E.  M.     Martin  Van  Buren,  1888. 
STEVENS,  JOHN  AUSTIN.     Albert  Gallatin,  1883. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  433 

SHALER,  N.  S.     Kentucky  :  a  Pioneer  Commonwealth,  1885. 

TYLER,  LYON  G.  The  Letters  and  Times  of  the  Tylers.  (3  vol 
umes.)  1884-1896. 

TESTIMONIAL  of  Gratitude  and  Affection  to  Henry  Clay.  Phila 
delphia,  1845. 

UNITED  STATES  Statutes  at  Large. 

VON  HOLST,  DR.  H.  The  Constitutional  and  Political  History  of 
the  United  States,  1877  et  seq. 

\ViSE,  JOHN  S.     Recollections  of  the  Thirteen  Presidents,  1906. 

WEED,  THURLOW.  Autobiography  of.  Edited  by  Harriet  A. 
Weed,  1884. 

WINTHROP,  ROBERT  C.     Memoir  of  Henry  Clay,  1880. 

WILSON,  SAMUEL  M.  «  Early  Bar  of  Fayette  County "  in  ad 
dresses  delivered  in  honor  of  John  Marshall  Day  by  mem 
bers  of  the  Fayette  County  Bar,  February  4,  1901. 


INDEX 


ABOLITIONISTS,  at  first  in  favor 
of  colonization,  106  ;  their 
petitions  in  Congress,  291— 
292  ;  their  tracts  in  the  mails, 
292  ;  insistent  demands  of, 
295  ;  Clay  denounces,  295- 
297  ;  Clay  foresees  danger 
in  course  of,  299 ;  asks 
them  to  cease  agitation, 
300  ;  make  inquiries  of  Clay 
through  Friend  Mendenhall, 
303-305  ;  Clay's  references 
to,  in  "Alabama  Letters,"  315- 
317  ;  proud  of  their  defeat  of 
Clay,  317-318  ;  again  de 
nounces,  360 ;  growing 
strength  of,  370. 

Adair,  John,  Clay  elected  to 
seat  of,  40. 

Adams,  John,  35,  149,  1 66. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  men 
tioned,  25  ;  Minister  to  Rus 
sia,  74  ;  peace  commissioner, 
74-77  ;  his  opinion  of  Clay, 
75-77  ;  Secretary  of  State, 
82  ;  annoyed  at  Clay,  91  ; 
attitude  of  toward  South 
Americans,  96 ;  buys  Flor 
ida,  101  ;  denounces  a  trick 
by  Clay,  114;  praises  Clay 
for  Missouri  Compromise, 
1 24 ;  in  line  for  presidency, 
135  ;  votes  cast  for,  137  ; 
expresses  views  of  Clay  in 
diary,  139-140;  Clay  de 
cides  to  support,  141  ;  bar 
gain  story  started  about,  142  ; 
elected  President,  143 ; 
makes  Clay  Secretary  of 
State,  143  ;  vain  explana 
tions  of,  143-144  ;  praises 
Clay  as  Speaker,  145  ;  comes 


to  know  Clay's  worth,  148- 
150;  defends  himself,  150; 
plans  of  for  the  nation,  151- 
152;  opinion  of  Randolph, 
153;  «  Blifil  and  Black 
George,"  153-154;  tells  of 
Clay's  illness,  159-160;  un 
willing  for  Clay  lo  resign, 
1 60  ;  on  Amos  Kendall,  163  ; 
his  views  of  Jackson,  165  ; 
defeated  by  Jackson,  166; 
his  "sun"  sets,  168;  fare 
well  to  Clay,  1 68  ;  offers 
Clay  seat  on  Supreme  Bench, 
169;  in  House,  192;  criti 
cizes  Clay,  192-193  ;  Clay- 
tells  of  his  vote  for,  252  ; 
Tyler  approves  Clay's  vote 
for,  276  ;  contest  of  for  right 
of  petition,  306  ;  disappointed 
by  Clay's  defeat,  321  ;  Clay 
visits,  333 ;  death  of,  334  ; 
praises  Clay  as  orator,  390 ; 
criticizes  his  reading,  391. 

Alabama,  admitted  to  Union, 
no.  x 

"Alabama  Letters,"  (  lay 
writes,  315-317  *,  harm  done 
by,  318 ;  Clay's  opinion  of 
slavery  expressed  in,  325. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Laws, 
passed,  35  ;  Clay  opposes, 

35-36- 

Allen,  John,  42-43. 
Ambrister,  shot  by  Jackson,  97, 

100. 

American   Colonization  Society, 

Clay  speaks  to,  in  1827,  106  ; 

later  speech  before,  290-  291  ; 

continued    interest    in,    325  ; 

again  addresses,  332-333. 
"  American  system,"  Clay  calls 


INDEX 


435 


protective     tariff    the,     132; 

he    defends,    179-182,     191- 

197;      father     of,      186;     in 

danger,    207  ;    modified    and 

saved,  214. 

Anderson,  Richard  C.,  152. 
Anti-Masons,    oppose    Jackson, 

203  ;  vote  polled  by,  in  1832, 

204. 
Arbuthnot,  shot  by  Jackson,  97, 

100. 

Arkansas,  no. 

Ashburton  Treaty,  281. 

"  Ashland,"  torn  down,  7  ;  pur 
chased  by  state,  7  ;  Clay  ac 
quires,  28 ;  Harriet  Marti- 
neau  at,  28-29  ;  Clay  returns 
to,  125;  Clay  busy  at,  172; 
in  retreat'  at,  177,  217  ;  Gen 
eral  Harrison  visits,  274 ; 
mortgage  on,  lifted,  323  ; 
Clay's  wish  again  to  see, 

367- 
Aurora,  222. 

BANCROFT,  GEORGE,  his  tribute 
to  Clay,  386. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  asks 
to  be  rechartered,  57 ;  Clay 
opposes,  58 ;  Clay  favors,  85- 
86;  Clay  counsel  for,  125; 
bill  to  recharter,  199 ;  bill 
vetoed  by  Jackson,  200  ;  issue 
in  campaign  of  1832,  204; 
Jackson  removes  deposits 
from,  221-222;  Jackson  cen 
sured  for  policy  in  regard  to, 
223-227  ;  resolution  to  re 
store  deposits  to,  227  ;  Clay 
still  favors,  261  ;  Tyler's  veto 
of  bill  to  recharter,  278 ;  his 
second  veto,  280. 

Barbour,  James,  190. 

Bargain  and  corruption  story, 
origin  of,  142  ;  long  term  of 
service  of,  144 ;  Randolph 
brings  up,  154-155  ;  revival 
of,  158,  174;  Calhoun  re 


peats,  259 ;  Jackson's  las* 
word  on,  315. 

Barnwell,  R.  W.,  defends 
Rhett,  361. 

Bayard,  James  A.,  appointed 
peace  commissioner,  74. 

Bell,  John,  resolutions  of,  353. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  mentioned, 
80  ;  supports  Clay  for  Presi 
dent,  136;  his  account  of 
Clay-Randolph  duel,  155- 
157 ;  supports  Jackson  on 
bank  issue,  200 ;  leads  ex- 
pungers,  237-242 ;  describes 
Clay's  farewell  to  the  Senate, 
287  ;  in  Senate  in  1850, 
345  ;  on  the  "  bleeding 
wounds,"  356 ;  a  tilt  with 
Clay,  359. 

Berkley,  E.  F.,  Rev.,  speaks  at 
funeral,  383 ;  baptizes  Clay, 

4I3- 

Berlin  Decree,  48. 
Bernadotte,  365. 
Berrien,  John  M.,  345. 
Bibb,  William  W.,  59. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  230. 
Birney,  James  G.,  313,  317. 
"Black  Tariff,"  181,  192. 
Blair,  Francis  P.,  141,  159,425. 
Blennerhassett,  Mrs.,  45. 
"  Blifil     and     Black    George," 
Randolph's  speech    on,   153- 

1.55- 

Bolivar,  General,  95. 

Bolleman,  Doctor,  41. 

Brazil,  95. 

Breckinridge,  John,  24. 

Breckinridge,  John  C.,  377. 

British  Orders  in  Council,  48,  71. 

Brooke,  Attorney-General,  19. 

Brooke,  Francis,  Clay's  letters 
to,  on  repugnance  to  office, 
147,  178-179;  on  masonry 
in  politics,  203 ;  on  his  own 
defeat,  204  ;  on  nullification, 
208;  on  "Ashland,"  217- 
218;  on  the  state  of  affairs, 


436 


INDEX 


218-219;  on  trip  to  New 
York,  22O,  243 ;  on  cam 
paign  of  1840,  262 ;  on  Ty 
ler,  278 ;  on  elections  of 
1841,  282  ;  on  retirement 
from  Senate,  282. 

Brown,  James,  24. 

Brown,  William,  121. 

Buchanan,  James,  Clay's  opin 
ion  of,  373;  Clay  annoys, 
421-423. 

Burke,  Edmund,  388. 

Burr,  Aaron,  38-45. 

Burton,  Lewis  W.,  7. 

Butler,  A.  P.,  senator  of  South 
Carolina,  345. 

Butler,  Doctor,  chaplain  of 
Senate,  380. 

CALHOUN,  JOHN  C,  young 
"war  hawk,"  60,  67,  125; 
inconsistencies  of,  86  ;  favors 
tariff,  86 ;  changes  views 
concerning  tariff,  135 ;  can 
didate  for  President,  136; 
construes  constitution  strictly, 
152;  defeats  tariff  bill,  180  ; 
his  "Exposition  of  1828," 
181  ;  prodded  by  Clay,  194, 
197  ;  votes  against  Van  Bu- 
ren,  198-199;  his  enmity  for 
Jackson,  199;  Jackson  threat 
ens  to  hang,  203  ;  Jackson 
attacks  theories  of,  205-206  ; 
takes  Hayne's  place  in  Sen 
ate,  206 ;  argues  his  case  in 
Senate,  208 ;  confers  with 
Clay,  209  ;  speaks  on  com 
promise,  211-212;  proud  of 
result,  216;  attacks  Jackson 
for  removing  deposits,  222 ; 
opposes  expunging,  239 ; 
Clay  assails,  253-260;  Clay 
calls  metaphysical,  255  ;  his 
public  land  scheme,  258;  re 
peats  bargain  story,  259  ;  his 
theory  as  to  hard  times,  283  ; 
shakes  Clay's  hand,  286  ;  on 


incendiary  matter  in  mails, 
292  ;  resolutions  on  slavery, 
293-294 ;  irreconcilable,  294  ; 
commends  speech  of  Clay 
on  slavery,  297-298  ;  Tyler's 
Secretary  of  State,  308  ;  gains 
full  control,  311  ;  returned  to 
Senate,  345  ;  dying  words  of, 
355  >  place  taken  by  Barn- 
well,  361 ;  opinion  of  Clay's 
oratory,  A^H) 

California,  (Constitution  for,  343; 
Clay  favors  admission  of,  as 
free  state,  346,  349;  in 
Omnibus  Bill,  356  ;  Clay  op 
poses  Taylor's  policy  regard 
ing,  358  ;  admitted  to  Union, 
366. 

Campbell,  Representative,  of 
Ohio,  119. 

Campbell,  John  B.,  50. 

Canada,  Clay's  proposal  to  in 
vade,  66. 

Carey,  Henry  C.,  135. 

Carey,  Mathew,  133,  135. 

Carroll,  Charles,  of  Carrollton, 
191. 

Cass,  General  Lewis,  Clay  re 
fuses  to  support,  339 ;  in  Sen 
ate,  345  ;  Clay  prefers,  to 
Buchanan,  373 ;  his  eulogy 
of  Clay,  380. 

Censure  of  Jackson  by  Senate, 
223-227  ;  expunged,  237- 
242. 

Chase,  S.  P.,  149,  345,  356, 
370. 

Cherokees  in  Georgia,  Clay  de 
fends,  231-232. 

Cheves,  Langdon,  60. 

Clark,  Representative,  of  New 
York,  1 20. 

Clay,  Ann — see  Mrs.  Erwin. 

("lay,  George,  17. 

Clay,  Henry,  birth  of,  15  ;  an 
cestors  of,  15-17  ;  "  Mill  Boy 
of  the  Slashes,"  18;  cierk  in 
a  store,  18;  chancery  clerk, 


ITOEX 


437 


18-19  ;  favored  by  Chancel 
lor  Wythe,  19 ;  admitted  to 
bar,  20 ;  goes  to  Kentucky, 
20-21  ;  warmly  received,  22- 
23 ;  delivers  oration,  22 ; 
laud  grant  litigation,  25  ;  J. 
O.  Harrison's  recollections 
of,  26-27 ;  marries  Lucretia 
Hart,  28  ;  purchases  "  Ash 
land,"  28-29  ;  leaves  wife  on 
estate,  30;  children,  31-33; 
grief  at  death  of  Mrs.  Erwin, 
31 ;  writes  anti-slavery  letters, 
34-35  ;  opposes  Alien  and 
Sedition  Laws,  35-36;  elected 
to  legislature,  36-37  ;  a  Jef- 
fersonian,  39  ;  defends  Burr, 
38-41  ;  discovers  villainy  of 
Burr,  41-45  ;  takes  seat  in 
Senate,  45  ;  again  in  legisla 
ture,  46  ;  opposes  anti-British 
movement,  47  ;  approves  em 
bargo,  47-48 ;  enrages  Mar 
shall,  49 ;  challenged  and 
rights,  50 ;  again  in  Senate, 
51;  advocates  tariff,  51-52; 
defends  Madison  on  Florida 
question,  56-57  ;  opposes  re- 
charter  of  bank, 57-58;  end 
of  term  in  Senate,  59 ; 
Speaker  of  House,  59  ;  leads 
"  war  hawks,"  60  ;  advocates 
greater  army  and  navy,  co 
ol  ;  wages  war,  63-65 ;  re- 
elected  Speaker,  65  ;  attacked 
by  Quincy,  66-67  >  General 
Harrison  writes  to,  68-70 ; 
states  issues  of  war,  71-73; 
appointed  to  peace  commis 
sion,  75  ;  tilts  with  Adams, 
75-77  5  g°es  to  London,  78  ; 
home  again,  78-80 ;  eyes  on 
presidency,  81-82 ;  offered 
cabinet  positions,  82  ;  offered 
English  mission,  82 ;  again 
made  Speaker,  83  ;  con 
structive  policies  of,  83-84  ; 
favors  bank,  85-86;  advo 


cates  internal  improvements, 
87  ;  leaves  Jeffersonians,  88- 
90;  opposes  Monroe,  90-91  ; 
befriends  South  Americans, 
92-96  ;  "  Great  Commoner," 
95-96 ;  assails  Jackson's 
course  in  Florida,  97-101  ; 
crowds  come  to  hear,  98- 
100;  thinks  Texas  part  of 
Louisiana  Purchase,  102- 
103 ;  friend  of  Greece,  103- 
104 ;  "  Great  Pacificator," 
105  ;  his  dislike  of  slavery, 
106 ;  his  part  in  Missouri 
Compromise,  107-124;  finan 
cial  misfortunes  of,  115,  125  ; 
counsel  for  Bank  of  United 
States,  125  ;  illness  of,  126  ; 
returns  to  Speaker's  chair, 
126;  presidential  candidate, 
127  ;  internal  improvements 
again,  127-130;  tilt  with 
Randolph,  130-131  ;  his 
"American  system,"  132; 
demands  higher  tariff,  131- 
*35  >  nominated  for  Presi 
dent,  136  ;  not  enough  votes, 
137 ;  welcomes  Lafayette, 
137-138;  supports  Adams, 
138-141  ;  bargain  story 
started,  141-143 ;  leaps  at 
Kremer,  142-143  ;  Secretary 
of  State,  143;  vain  retorts, 
143-144,  158;  retires  from 
speakership,  145  ;  praised  as 
Speaker,  145-146;  unhappy 
years,  147 ;  comes  to  value 
Adams,  148 ;  his  loyalty  to 
Adams,  149 ;  praised  by 
Adams,  150;  plans  Pan- 
American  Congress,  150- 
153  ;  attacked  by  Randolph, 
153-155  ;  his  duel  with 
Randolph,  156-157  ;  foreign 
policy  of,  157-158;  ill  health 
of,  159-161  ;  personal  side 
of,  161-163;  loses  Kentucky, 
163;  Adams  speaks  ^of,  165; 


438 


INDEX 


beloved  in  Washington,  167  ; 
leaves  Washington,  1 68  ;  of 
fered  place  on  Supreme 
Bench,  169;  condemns  mili 
tary  heroes,  169-170 ;  his 
journey  home,  170-171; 
speaks  of  roads,  171  ;  farm 
ing  at  "  Ashland,"  172 ; 
leader  of  new  party,  173  ; 
denounces  spoils  system,  174- 
176;  goes  South,  177-178; 
speaks  in  Ohio,  179  ;  returns 
to  tariff,  179-182;  denounces 
nullification,  182-185  ;  for 
President  in  1832,  186,  187  ; 
great  orator,  1 86  ;  visits  New 
Orleans,  187  ;  again  in  Sen 
ate,  189;  courage  of,  189; 
nominated  for  President,  189- 
192  ;  defends  tariff  in  Senate, 
192-197  ;  passage  with  Cal- 
houn,  194-195 ;  leads  fight 
against  Van  Buren,  198-199; 
opposes  Jackson  in  bank  bill 
veto,  200 ;  his  land  policy, 
201-202;  on  free-masonry, 
203 ;  defeated  by  Jackson, 
203—204  ;  proposes  compro 
mise  tariff,  208  ;  confers  with 
Calhoun,  209  ;  with  manufac 
hirers,  209  ;  his  plan  of  ac 
commodation,  209-212;  fear 
of  a  war  with  Jackson  in  com 
mand,  212-213;  disclaims 
ambition,  213-214;  congratu 
lated  by  Madison,  214-215  ; 
his  land  bill,  218  ;  despairs, 
218-219;  trip  to  East,  220  ; 
n Hacks  Jackson  for  removing 
deposits,  221-227  ;  names 
Whig  party,  229 ;  prevents 
rupture  with  France,  230 ; 
rival  leaders  in  1836,  234 ; 
despondency  of,  235-237, 
243  ;  resists  expungers,  237- 
242  ;  support  of  surplus  dis 
tribution  scheme,  244-245  ; 
again  recommends  bank,  248 ; 


opposes  sub-treasury  system, 
248-251  ;  on  Jackson's  van 
ity,  251-253;  arraigns  Cal 
houn,  253-260 ;  Calhoun's 
opinion  of,  253,  257  ;  re 
minds  Calhoun  of  support  of 
Adams,  259 ;  assailed  by 
Calhoun,  259-260 ;  tour  of 
Eastern  states,  262  ;  Weed's 
plan  to  defeat,  263-267 ; 
meets  Weed  at  Saratoga, 
264  ;  chagrin  of  friends,  268  ; 
endorses  ticket,  268-269 ; 
speech  at  Nashville,  269- 
271  ;  joy  of  victory,  272- 
273 ;  speaks  again  on  land 
bill,  273-274;  asked  to  be 
Secretary  of  State,  274;  set 
aside  by  Harrison,  274-275  ; 
Tyler's  devotion  to,  276-277  ; 
takes  command,  277-278 ; 
Tyler  vetoes  his  bank  bill, 
278-279  ;  "  corporal's  guard,'1 
279-280;  reads  Tyler  out  of 
party,  280-281  ;  Tyler  calls, 
a  "  doomed  man,"  281  ;  in 
tention  to  retire,  282 ;  says 
tariff  of  1833  is  too  low,  283  ; 
his  farewell  address,  284- 
287  ;  shakes  hands  with  Cal 
houn,  286;  his  slaves,  288; 
favors  colonization,  289,  290, 
291  ;  asked  to  aid  Garrison, 
289  ;  opposes  abridgment  of 
right  of  petition,  292  ;  resolu 
tions  on  slavery,  293-294  ; 
addresses  the  Abolitionists, 
295-297  ;  Calhoun  commends 
speech  of,  298 ;  "  rather  be 
right  than  President,"  299  ; 
letter  on  abolition  to  Jacob 
Gibson,  299  ;  for  President 
in  1844,  301  ;  triumphant  re 
turn  to  Kentucky,  302  ;  "  a 
flash  in  the  pan,"  303  ;  meets 
Friend  Mendenhnll,  303- 
305  ;  supports  Giddings,  306  ; 
on  Texas,  306-307  ;  tour  of 


INDEX 


439 


South,  309 ;  writes  Raleigh 
letter,  309 ;  nominated  for 
President,  310;  picturesque 
campaign,  311-313;  Jackson 
slanders,  315;  writes  "Ala 
bama  Letters,"  315-317;  de 
feated  by  Polk,  318;  his 
friends  charge  fraud,  319 ; 
sorrow  of  friends,  319-321  ; 
his  own  disappointment,  321- 
322  ;  debts  of,  paid,  323-324 ; 
denounces  Mexican  War, 
326,  328-330;  goes  to  New 
Orleans,  326;  speaks  for  Ire 
land,  326-327  ;  son  killed, 
327  ;  at  Cape  May,  327  ;  in 
vited  to  many  cities,  327- 
328 ;  speaks  to  Colonization 
Society,  332-333 ;  appears  in 
Supreme  Court,  333 ;  at 
Adams's  bedside,  333 ;  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York, 
334 ;  urged  for  President  in 
1848,  334-335;  his  false 
friends,  336-337  ;  gives  up 
letter-writing,  335 ;  on  work 
of  Philadelphia  convention, 
337  ;  refuses  to  support  Tay- 
l°r»  337-338 ;  withholds  let 
ter  damaging  to  Taylor,  338  ; 
asked  to  lead  third  party, 
339  ;  goes  South  again,  339  ; 
reflected  to  Senate,  339 ; 
plan  for  colonization  in  Ken 
tucky,  340-341 ;  slavery  the 
one  theme  at  Washington, 
343-344  5  whom  he  met 
there,  345 ;  his  compromise 
resolutions,  346-348;  repri 
mands  Jefferson  Davis,  349  ; 
growing  feebleness  of,  350 ; 
denounces  secession,  351- 
353;  addresses  Foote,  353- 
354 ;  what  he  thought  of 
slavery  in  1850,  354;  at 
head  of  Compromise  Com 
mittee,  356-357  ;  on  "bleed 
ing  wounds,"  358  ;  tilt  with 


Benton,  359  ;  activity  of,  359  ; 
denounces  Abolitionists,  360  ; 
denounces  Davis  and  Rhett, 
361  ;  eloquent  appeals  for 
Union,  362-366 ;  speeches 
applauded,  364  ;  goes  to  New 
port,  366 ;  friendly  with 
Webster,  369 ;  his  cough, 
371;  goes  to  Cuba,  371;  re 
turns  to  Washington,  375  ; 
meets  Kossuth,  375 ;  con 
tinued  illness  of,  376;  death 
of,  378-379 ;  funeral  in 
Washington,  379-381 ;  prog 
ress  home,  381-382;  inter 
ment,  384 ;  tomb  of,  384- 
385 ;  his  devotion  to  the 
Union,  386;  oratorical  powers, 
387-390 ;  opposed  to  trick 
ery,  391-392;  Mr.  Harrison 
on,  392-398;  his  voice,  399- 
400;  fascinations  of,  401- 
403 ;  friends  of,  403-404 ; 
enemies  of,  405  ;  women  ad 
mired,  405-409;  his  slaves, 
411-412;  religious  views  of, 
412-417;  financial  reverses 
of,  417-418;  careful  business 
methods,  418-419  ;  anecdotes 
of,  420—426  ;  as  a  presidential 
candidate,  427-429. 

Clay,  Mrs.  Henry,  marriage  of, 
28 ;  character  of,  28 ;  her 
home,  29-30 ;  manages  farm, 
30;  children  of,  31-33;  self- 
restraint  of,  50-5 1  ;  a  relation 
of  Benton,  136,  156;  illness 
of,  161 ;  Mrs.  Smith's  friend 
ship  for,  161-162  ;  a  beloved 
figure  in  Washington,  167- 
168;  returns  to  "Ashland," 
172;  jewels  for,  321 ;  solaces 
Clay  in  defeat,  321  ;  Clay 
misses,  350;  death  of,  384; 
Mrs.  Maury's  visit  to,  408. 

Clay,  Henry,  Jr.,  7,  33,  327. 

Clay,  James  B.,  rebuilds  "  Ash 
land,"  7  ;  Minister  to  Portu- 


440 


INDEX 


gal,  32;  father  writes  10,371, 
376. 

Clay,  Rev.  John,  Henry  Clay's 
father,  15,  16,  17,  18. 

Clay,  Mrs.  John,  Henry  Clay's 
mother,  marriage  of,  16; 
widow,  1 8 ;  marries  Henry 
Watkins,  18;  removes  to 
Kentucky,  20  ;  death  of,  21. 

Clay,  John,  Henry  Clay's 
brother,  17,  20. 

Clay,  John  Morrison,  Henry 
Clay's  son,  33. 

Clay,  Porter,  Henry  Clay's 
brother,  17,  20. 

Clay,  Susan  Hart — see  Mrs. 
Duralde. 

Clay,  Theodore  Wythe,  32. 

Clay,  Thomas  Hart,  son  of 
Henry  Clay,  32,  367  ;  father 
telegraphs  for,  377  ;  returns 
with  body,  379 ;  financial  re 
verses  of,  419. 

Clay,  Mrs.  Thomas  H.,  Clay's 
daughter-in-law,  376,  413. 

Claye,  John,  15-16. 

Clayton,    John    M.,    208,    268, 

336. 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  65. 

Cobb,  Howell,  119. 

Coles,  Colonel,  44. 

Colton,  Calvin,  144-145,  158. 

Columbian  Observer,  Kramer's 
letter  in,  142. 

Combs,  General,  Clay  writes  to, 
265-266,  342. 

Compromise  of  1833,  how  it 
was  arranged,  179-214,  253; 
Calhoun  not  grateful  for, 
259  ;  rates  of  too  low,  283. 

Compromise  of  1850,  how  it 
was  effected,  345-367  ;  re 
sults  of,  368-369 ;  people 
asked  to  support,  369-370. 

Corcoran  and  Riggs,  418. 

Corwin,  Thomas,  of  Ohio,  34  v 

Crawford,  William  H.,  candi 
date  for  President,  136;  par 


alyzed,  138;  defeated,  143; 
Clay  writes  to,  148. 

Crittenden,  John  J.,  his  opinion 
of  Clay,  8 1  ;  removed  by 
Jackson,  188;  withdraws  in 
favor  of  Clay,  188;  told  that 
Clay  would  vote  for  Adams, 
252;  in  Harrison's  cabinet, 
284;  takes  Clay's  place  in 
Senate,  284;  takes  oath  of 
office,  286 ;  on  Clay's  fare 
well  speech,  286;  opposes 
Clay's  nomination,  331,  336  ; 
reunion  with  Clay,  336 ; 
eulogy  of  Clay,  378. 

Cuba,  Clay  goes  to,  37. 

Cumberland  Road,  87,  128, 
129,  371,  404. 

Czar  of  Russia,  interposes  for 
peace,  74. 

DALLAS,  GEORGE  M.,  Secretary 
of  Treasury,  86;  nominated 
for  Vice-President,  311;  de 
ceives  Pennsylvania,  314. 

Daviess,  Joseph  Hamilton,  25, 
38-39,  42. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  345,  348,  349, 
361. 

Deacon,  Peter,  17. 

Dearborn,  General,  190,  424. 

Delaware  and  Chesapeake  Ca 
nal,  128. 

Denny,  Richard,  18. 

Dickens,  Charles,  on  Clay,  403. 

District  of  Columbia,  slavery 
in,  292,  293,  294 ;  Clay  sup 
ports  slaveholding  in,  295, 
347  ;  favors  abolition  of  slave- 
trade  in,  347  ;  law  to  abolish 
it  in,  proposed,  357  ;  passed, 

367- 

"  Doughfaces,"  114. 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  325. 
Dowling,  John,  43-44. 
Dunne,  William  J.,  222. 
Duel,  Clay's  with   H.  Marshall, 

50;  Clay's   opinion   of,    142- 


INDEX 


441 


143 ;   Clay's  with  Randolph, 

is6-^- 

Dupuy,  Aaron,  288,  396. 

Dupuy,  Charles,  288,  289. 

Duralde,  Martin,  31. 

Duralde,  Mrs.  Martin,  Susan 
Hart  Clay,  marries,  31;  death 
of,  1 60;  family  of,  177. 

EATON,  SENATOR,  of  Tennes 
see,  resolution  of,  116,  118, 
119. 

Edgefield  letter,  of  Calhoun, 
253.  255. 

England — see  Great  Britain. 

Erie  Canal,  Clay  favors,  87. 

Erwin,  Mrs.  James,  Ann  Clay, 
31,  236,  414. 

Etting,  Solomon,  correspond 
ence  with  Clay,  415-416. 

Eustis,  William,  representative 
from  Massachusetts,  118,  119. 

Evans,  George,  Senator  from 
Maine,  400. 

Everett,  Edward,  193. 

FEDERAL  party,  end  of,  36; 
attitude  of,  on  Florida,  55, 
56;  on  War  of  1812,  60 ; 
nearly  obliterated,  83;  op 
poses  tariff  of  1816,  86. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  sorry  for 
Clay's  defeat,  319;  becomes 
President,  339,  360 ;  appoints 
Webster  Secretary  of  State, 
345  »  Clay  friendly  with,  369  ; 
on  Shadraco  case,  370 ;  Clay 
favors  him  in  1852,  377. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  420. 

Florida,  Madison's  proclama 
tion,  53;  boundaries  of,  53; 
Jackson's  invasion  of,  97, 199  ; 
purchase  of,  IOI-IO2;  slavery 
in,  294-295. 

Floyd,  John,  205. 

Foote,  Henry  S.,  345,  348; 
Clay  addresses,  353-354 ; 
renews  his  motion,  356. 


"  Force  Bill  "  against  South 
Carolina,  207-208,  213,  214. 

Forney,  John  W.,423. 

Forrest,  Edwin,  423. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  324,  402. 

France,  issues  decrees,  48-49 ; 
Louisiana  purchased  from, 
53-54;  her  injustices  to 
United  States,  bo,  64,  65 ; 
ports  of  closed,  72,  rupture 
with  in  1831,  230-231. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  35. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  for 
Vice-President,  310. 

PViends,  through  Mendenhall, 
question  Clay,  303-305. 

Fugitive  Slave  Law,  Clay  ad 
vocates  a  stronger,  347  ;  plan 
for,  356 ;  passed,  366 ;  as 
perities  of,  370;  Clay  urges 
respect  for,  374 ;  Clay  re 
grets  severities  of,  375. 

GALLATIN,  ALBERT,  67 ;  his 
opinion  of  Clay,  70 ;  commis 
sioner  of  peace,  74 ;  pacifies, 
75»  77  >  declines  place  on 
Panama  mission,  152;  Clay 
attacks,  195. 

Garrard,  Governor,  35. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  in  prison,  289. 

Ghent,  Treaty  of,  74-78. 

Gibson,  Jacob,  Clay  writes  to, 
299. 

Giddings,  J.  R.,  resigns  seat, 
306;  questions  Clay,  316-- 

3'7- 

Glascock,  General,  402. 

Gottenburg,  suggested  place  of 
meeting,  74. 

Gratz,  Benjamin,  158,  416. 

Great  Britain,  embargoes 
against,  47-49  ;  Florida  ceded 
to,  53 ;  wrongs  of,  suffered, 
60-62  ;  war  declared  on,  64  ; 
impresses  seamen,  65,  71-73  ; 
American  rage  against,  66- 
67  ;  destroys  American  ship- 


442 


INDEX 


ping,  71  ;  does  not  desire 
mediation,  74;  willing  to 
discuss  terms,  74 ;  her  de 
mands,  76-77 ;  peace  with, 
concluded,  78. 

Great  Lakes,  right  to  keep  war 
vessels  on,  76. 

Greeks,  Clay  friend  of,  103-104. 

Greeley,  Horace,  meets  Clay, 
375  ;  opinion  of,  402-403. 

Grundy,  Felix,  opposes  Clay, 
37-38  >  "  war-hawk,"  60  ; 
Clay  on,  at  Nashville,  270- 
271. 

HALE,  JOHN  P.,  345,  370,  380. 

Hall,  Doctor,  419. 

Hamilton,    Alexander,    39,   42, 

57,86,151. 

Hamilton,  General  James,  157. 
Hamlin,  Hannibal,  345. 
Harlan,  James,  Clay   writes  to, 

346,  35 6.  372- 

Harrison,  James  O.,  manuscript 
diary  of,  5  ;  describes  Clay, 
26-27,  389-390,  392-398 ;  de 
nies  stories  of  Clay's  intemper 
ance,  412;  on  business  meth 
ods  of  Clay,  418-419. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  his 
letters  to  Clay  during  "War  of 
1812,  68-70;  for  President 
in  1836,  235;  in  1840,  262; 
his  friends  in  New  York, 
265  ;  strength  of,  in  conven 
tion,  267 ;  Clay  endorses, 
269 ;  humble  beginnings  of, 
emphasized,  269  ;  death  of, 
276;  canonized,  311;  Clay's 
attitude  toward,  in  1840,  337. 

Hart,  Joel  T.,  makes  statue  of 
Clay,  320. 

Hart,  Lucretia — see  Mrs.  Henry 
Clay. 

Hart,   Colonel    Thomas,   settle 
in  Lexington,  27  ;  Clay  writes 
to,    41,    45-46  ;     religion    of, 


Hartford  Convention,  60. 

Hayne,  R.  Y.,  his  debates  with 
Webster,  184 ;  interrupts 
Clay,  195,  197  ;  retires  from 
Senate,  206. 

Hemp,  Clay  advocates  tariff  on 

51- 

Henderson  Company,  27.* 

Henry,  Patrick,  Clay  hears, 
19;  mentioned,  24;  his  dis 
like  of  slavery,  160;  speeches 
of,  389. 

Horsey,  Outerbridge,  55-56. 

Houston  vs.  Bank  of  New  Or 
leans,  333. 

Houston,  Sam,  345. 

Hudson,  Elizabeth — see  Mrs. 
John  Clay. 

Hudson,  George,  16. 

Hudson,  Mary,  1 6. 

Humphreysville,  52. 

Hungary,  sympathy  for,  375. 

Hunter,  Robert  M.,  345,  380. 

ILLINOIS,   admitted    to    Union, 

no. 
Impressment  of  seamen,  65,  7 I 

73- 

Independent  treasury  system, 
recommended  by  Van  Buren, 
247 ;  opposed  by  Clay,  250. 

Indians,  Clay  defends,  99-101, 
231-232. 

Internal  Improvements,  Clay 
on,  45,  51,  84,  87;  he  de 
fends  constitutionality  of,  88- 
90,  127-131  ;  Adams  favors, 

1S1- 

Ireland,   Clay  speaks   for,  326  ; 

service      remembered,      326, 
334- 

JACKSON,  ANDREW,  victory  at 
New  Orleans,  78;  enters 
politics,  83 ;  sweeps  away 
bank,  86 ;  lawless  behavior 
in  Florida,  96-98 ;  Clay  at 
tacks,  96-101 ;  awakens  mil- 


INDEX 


443 


itary  enthusiasm,  125  ;  candi 
date  for  President,  136; 
strong  in  West  and  South, 
136;  tries  to  win  Clay's 
favor,  138;  Clay  opposes, 
139;  resentment  of,  141; 
starts  bargain  story,  141- 
143 ;  defeated  by  Adams, 
143  ;  rages  on  his  way  home, 
144;  rude  character  of  his 
friends,  149  ;  who  increase  in 
numbers,  162 ;  sweeps  Ken 
tucky,  163;  Clay  condemns, 
163-165  ;  Jefferson's  view  of, 
165  ;  Adams's  view  of,  165  ; 
elected  over  Adams,  166 ; 
implacable  hate  for  Clay, 
173-174;  sets  Clay  out  of  of 
fice,  174;  introduces  spoils 
system,  174-177  ;  views  of 
tariff,  181  ;  Clay  leader 
against,  183,  189-191  ;  his 
enmity  for  Calhoun,  199  ;  re 
wards  Van  Buren,  199 ;  ve 
toes  bank  bill,  199-200  ;  his 
land  policy,  201  ;  favored  in 
campaign  of  1832,203-204; 
his  threat  to  hang  Calhoun, 
203 ;  great  victory  won  by, 
204 ;  his  proclamation 
against  South  Carolina,  205- 
208  ;  Clay's  fear  of  a  war  led 
by,  212-213;  appoints  his 
successor,  218-219;  vetoes 
Clay's  land  bill,  218-221  ; 
removes  deposits,  221-222; 
Clay's  attack  on,  for  this, 
223-227 ;  censure  of,  223- 
227  ;  Senate  rejects  his  nom 
inations,  228 ;  nearly  pro 
duces  rupture  with  France, 
229-231  ;  spoils  system  of, 
233  ;  end  of  his  reign,  237 ; 
censure  expunged,  237-242  ; 
his  specie  circular,  246;  re 
fuses  to  rescind  it,  247  ;  ar 
raigned  by  Clay  for  sub- 
treasury  system,  250-25 1  ; 


Clay  denounces  vanity  of, 
251-253  ;  Clay  likens  to  Na 
poleon,  251  ;  Clay  near  his 
home  in  1840,  270;  favors 
Texas,  310;  revives  bargain 
story,  315. 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  166, 
424. 

Jackson,  Doctor  Francis,  418. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  Kentucky 
devoted  to,  39 ;  and  Burr, 
41,  44  J  embargo  of,  47,  49  ; 
his  efforts  to  obtain  justice 
from  England,  59 ;  men 
tioned,  67,  88,  166  ;  his  dis 
like  of  slavery,  106 ;  fears 
for  Union  at  time  of  Missouri 
Compromise,  117;  his  view 
of  Jackson,  165.  , 

Jesup,  General,  156. 

Jews,  Clay's  attitude  toward, 
415-416. 

Johnson,  Reverdy,  268. 

Johnson,  Richard  M.,  189. 

Johnston,  J.  S.,  Clay  writes  to, 

!37,   138,  139,  I7°>  !73.  *87- 
Jones,  George  W.,  380. 

KENDALL,  AMOS,  163. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  243. 

Kentucky,  early  condition  of, 
20 ;  convention  to  revise 
constitution  of,  34 ;  circuit 
court  system  in,  46 ;  Clay's 
plan  of  colonization  for,  340- 

341. 

Kentucky  Colonization  Society, 

Clay  speaks  to,  291. 
King,  William  R.,  345. 
Kossuth,    Louis,    meets    Clay, 

375- 

Kremer,  George,  his  attack  on 
Clay,  141-144,  156. 

LAFAYETTE,  Clay  welcomes, 
137-138  ;  dinner  to,  424. 

Land  sales,  regulation  of,  201- 
202;  Clay's  plan  for  vetoed 


444 


INDEX 


by  Jackson,  218,  221,  233- 
234  ;  new  bill  regarding,  de 
feated,  233-234 ;  surplus 
from,  distributed,  244-247  ; 
Calhoun's  plan  concerning, 
258 ;  Clay  again  advocates 
his  plan  for,  272-273,  280 ; 
his  bill  defeated,  306. 

La  Plata,  Republic  of,  94. 

Latin  America — see  Spanish 
America. 

Lawrence,  Abbott,  217. 

Leigh,  B.  Watkins,  268. 

Letcher,  Governor,  314,  427. 

Lexington,  state  of  when  Clay 
arrived  in,  22  ;  early  bar  in, 

23-25- 
Lexington  Emigration  Society, 

28. 
Lexington  Insurance  Company, 

37- 

Liberia,  Clay  favors  sending 
negroes  to,  289,  332,  340, 
4H. 

Liberty  party  in  campaign  of 
1844,  313,  317. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  favors  colo 
nization,  106  ;  Chase's  rela 
tions  with,  149 ;  fame  of, 
369  ;  spirit  of  Clay  seen  in, 
386  ;  as  an  orator,  388-389. 

Lind,  Jenny,  Clay  hears,  369. 

Livingston,  Peter  R.,  190. 

Louis  Napoleon,  375. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  53,  54; 
prohibition  of  slaveholding 
in  north  of  territory  of,  1 12, 
121  ;  was  Texas  a  part  of, 

3°7- 

Lowndes,  William,  60,  119,  183. 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  106. 

MADISON,  JAMES,  24 ;  Florida 
proclamation,  53-54;  Feder 
alists  attack  his  policy,  55  ; 
Clay  defends,  55—57  ;  his 
dealings  with  England,  59 ; 
messages  of,  62,  63  ;  recom 


mends  embargo,  63  ;  nomi 
nated  for  reelection,  64  ;  re- 
elected,  65  ;  price  of  second 
term,  67  ;  wishes  to  make  a 
general  of  Clay,  70  ;  urged  to 
greater  activity,  72;  ready 
for  peace,  74 ;  offers  Clay 
cabinet  posts,  82;  vetoes  in 
ternal  improvement  bill,  87- 
88 ;  his  dislike  of  slavery, 
106  ;  compliments  Clay,  214- 
215  ;  death  of,  236. 
Maine,  admission  to  Union  of, 

I  10- I  I  2,    114. 

Mammy  Lottie,  288. 
Mangum,     W.     P.,    235,    301, 

345- 

"  Mansfield,''  72. 

Marcy,  William  L.,  198. 

Marion,  Robert,  182,  196. 

Marshall,  Humphrey,  24 ;  ex 
treme  Federalist,  49 ;  his 
duel  with  Clay,  50. 

Marshall,  James  G.,  419. 

Mai  shall,  Thomas  A.,  51. 

Marshall,  Thomas  F.,  390. 

Marryat,  Captain,  at  "  Ash 
land,"  425 

Martineau,  Harriet,  at  "  Ash 
land,"  29. 

Mason,    Senator     of     Virginia, 

345.  348,  349-. 
Masonry  in  politics,  203. 
Massachusetts,    restrictions     on 

negroes  in,  116. 
Mathew,  Father,  343. 
Maury,   Mrs.,  visits   Clay,  407- 

410. 

McDuffie,  George,  208. 
McLane,  Louis,  222. 
Mendenhall,    Friend,  questions 

Clay,  303-305. 
Mexico,  a    republic,   307  ;   war 

with  Texan  "  patriots,"  307  ; 

claims   of,   upon  Texas,  309  ; 

war    with     threatened.     317, 

325  ;     at    mercy    of    United 

States,  328 ;  Democrats  wish 


INDEX 


445 


to  annex,  328 ;  empire  ac 
quired  from,  343. 

Milan  Decree,  49. 

Miller,  Stephen  F.,  Clay's  let 
ters  to,  315-317- 

Milton,  375. 

Mississippi,  right  to  navigate, 
76;  improvement  of,  128. 

Missouri  Compromise,  105  ; 
Clay's  part  in,  107  ;  who 
originated  it,  108-109;  prog 
ress  and  arrangement  of,  109- 
124;  Clay  on  slaveholder's 
side  in,  288  ;  a  solemn  pact, 
294  ;  Douglas  supports,  325  ; 
Clay's  reference  to  it  in  1850, 

349- 

Monroe,  James,  mentioned,  24, 
67,  82 ;  opposes  internal  im 
provements,  88,  127  ;  Clay's 
criticism  of,  90-91 ;  his  atti 
tude  toward  South  America, 
96 ;  Florida  proclamation, 
103;  reflected.  121 ;  last  of 
the  Virginians,  125  ;  his  Flor 
ida  treaty,  307. 

Monroe  Doctrine,  96. 

Moore,  James  F.,  50. 

Morrison,  James,  his  will,  417. 

NAPOLEON,  decrees  of,  48-49  ; 
sells  Louisiana,  53  ;  Federal 
ist  abuse  of,  6l  ;  wars  of,  71  ; 
roads  of,  89  ;  Jackson  likened 
to,  251. 

Nashville  Convention,  342 ; 
meets  and  dissolves,  360 ; 
echoes  of,  370. 

National  Intelligencer,  Clay's 
letter  to,  142. 

Negroes,  plans  concerning,  in 
Missouri,  109  ;  restrictions 
on,  in  Northern  states,  116; 
Clay's,  289;  Clay  favors 
colonization  of,  289,  290,  291, 
325  ;  colonization  of,  in  Ken 
tucky,  340-342 ;  running 
from  man-hunters,  370. 


New  England,  attitude  of,  in 
War  of  1812,  60,  66,  67,  71, 

74;  Adams  represents  tradi 
tions  of,  75  ;  disaffection  in, 
76-77  ;  opposed  to  protective 
tariff,  135;  changes  its  views 
on,  1 80. 

New  Hampshire,  restrictions  on 
negroes  in,  116. 

New  Mexico,  constitution  for, 
343  ;  Clay  favors  freedom  in, 
349  ;  in  Omnibus  Bill,  356 ; 
Taylor's  policies  as  to,  358  ; 
slave-breeding  ground,  361  ; 
territorial  government  for. 
366. 

New  York,  restrictions  on  ne 
groes  in,  1 1 6. 

Nicholas,  George,  23-24,  35. 

Niles,  H.,  Clay  to,  concerning 
Jackson,  168-169 ;  concern 
ing  Garrison,  289. 

Northumberland,  Duke  of,  58. 

Nullification,  South  Carolina 
announces  doctrine  of,  181- 
183;  Clay  denounces,  182- 
185,  196 ;  Jackson  against, 
205-206;  Madison  on,  215; 
Calhoun's  unshaken  faith  in, 
216;  nature  of  doctrine  of, 
365. 

OMNIBUS  BILL,  356;  defeated, 

363.  366- 

O'Neill,  Peggy,  166. 
Oregon  question,  311,  326. 
Oregon  River,  273. 

PALMERSTON,  LORD,  401. 
Pan-American    Congress,    150- 

153  ;  Randolph  attacks,  153- 

154. 

Penn,  William,  35. 
Pennsylvania,  slavery  abolished 

in,  35  ;  battle-ground  in  1844, 

3I3-3I5- 

Perry,  Commodore,  126-127. 
Pet  Banks,  222. 


446 


INDEX 


Petitions  Abolition,  received  in 
Congress,  291  ;  Clay  presents, 
292;  right  to  present  ought 
not  to  be  abridged,  295  ; 
Adams  defends  it,  306. 

Pickens,  Andrew,  182,  196. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  54. 

Pinckneys  of  South  Carolina, 
183. 

Pindell,  Richard,  42-44,  340. 

Pitkin,  Timothy,  opposes  War 
of  1812,  64;  defeated  for 
Speaker,  65. 

Pitt,  William,  324. 

Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  Minister  to 
Mexico,  152,  307. 

Polk,  James  K.,  nominated  for 
President,  311  ;  an  unknown 
quantity,  314;  elected  Presi 
dent,  318;  brings  on  Mexican 
Wrar,  325  ;  Clay  dines  with, 

333- 

Poore,  Ben  Perley,  on  Clay's 
voice,  399. 

Porter,  Peter  B.,  62,  63. 

Preston,  William  C.,  on  Clay's 
farewell,  286 ;  Clay  consults, 
regarding  slavery,  295  ;  calls 
Clay's  defeat  a  public  calam 
ity,  319. 

Price,  Mrs.,  50. 

Protective  Tariff — see  Tariff  and 
American  System. 

QUINCY,  JOSIAH,  opposes  War 
of  1812,  64,  65  ;  his  opinion 
of  Clay,  66-67,  73. 

"  RALEIGH  LETTER, "309. 

Randolph,  John,  24,  73 ;  op 
poses  War  of  1812,  64,  65, 
67-68  ;  proposes  to  withdraw 
from  Union,  113;  invents 
name  of  "  doughface,"  1 14  ; 
speaks  on  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  118;  his  opposition  to 
the  Compromise,  1 21  ;  his 
reply  to  Clay  on  internal  im 


provements,  1303-131  ;  hi.s 
foul  attack  on  Clay,  153- 
155  ;  duel  with  Clay,  156- 

'57- 
Rhett,   R.   B.,  Clay  denounces, 

36l»  370- 

Rhode     Island,    restrictions    on 

negroes  in,  116. 
Rio  Perdido,  53,  54. 
Rives,  Senator,  defends    Tyler, 

279,  39°- 

Robertson,  Chief-Justice,  383. 
Russell,    Jonathan,  peace    coni 

missioner,  75  ;  his  opinion  of 

J.  Q.  Adams,  77-78. 
Rutledges   of    South    Carolina, 

183. 

SCHURZ,  CARL,  his  opinion  of 
Clay,  90  ;  theory  about  sup 
pression  of  Clay's  speeches, 
107 ;  praises  Clay's  tariff 
speeches,  135,  193 ;  accuses 
Clay  of  seeking  presidency, 
234  ;  on  Clay's  oratory,  401. 

Scott,  Winfield,  sentiment  fa 
vorable  to  in  New  York,  265  ; 
views  of,  expressed  to  Clay, 
266-267  >  strength  of  name 
in  convention.  267  ;  in  Mex 
ico  City,  328  ;  votes  for  in 
Philadelphia  convention, 
336 ;  Clay  opposes  nomina 
tion  of  in  1852,  377. 

Secession,  spoken  of  as  a  com 
mon  right,  109  ;  nullification 
near  kin  to,  185  ;  Clay's  op 
position  to,  351-353,  373. 

Seminole  Indians,  Jackson  chas 
tises,  96-97 ;  Clay  defends, 

99- 
Sergeant,    John,    on     Missouri 

Compromise,    119;  envoy    to 

Pan-American  Congress,  152  ; 

nominated  for  Vice-President, 

191. 
Seward,    William     H.,    Weed's 

support   of,    264 ;  in    Senate. 


INDEX 


447 


345  5  "  higher  law  "  speech, 
356  ;  eulogy  on  Clay,  380. 

Shadrach  case,  370. 

Shelby,  Isaac,  24. 

Shepherd,  Moses,  erects  monu 
ment  to  Clay,  404. 

Sherrerd,  Representative,  333. 

Shunk,  Governor,  314. 

Sieyes,  324. 

Slavery,  Clay  writes  against, 
34-35 ;  his  dislike  of,  106, 
288;  in  Missouri,  108-124; 
he  asks  for  remedy  for,  290- 
291  ;  unconstitutional  to  in 
terfere  with,  291,  299;  in 
District  of  Columbia,  292; 
Clay's  resolutions  regarding, 
293-294 ;  he  discusses,  in 
Senate,  295-297  ;  must  con 
tinue,  300  ;  Clay's  opinion  of, 
expressed  to  Mendenhall, 
303-305  ;  his  remedy  for, 
325  ;  discussion  of,  in  Ken 
tucky,  339-340 ;  bitterness 
over,  341-342;  injected  into 
everything,  344,  346 ;  Clay's 
opinion  of,  in  1850,  354. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Samuel  Harrison, 
tells  of  Clay's  sorrows,  31- 
32 ;  present  to  hear  Clay  on 
Jackson,  98-99  ;  her  impres 
sions  of  Clay,  160-162  ;  tells 
of  Jackson's  arrival  in  Wash 
ington,  166-168;  her  ad 
miration  of  Clay,  406 ;  on 
his  domestic  relations,  410. 

Smyth,  General,  of  Virginia, 
426. 

Soule,  Senator,  of  Louisiana, 
345.  423. 

Southard,  Judge,  160. 

South  Carolina,  declares  tariff 
unconstitutional,  180;  issues 
"  Exposition  of  1828,"  181  ; 
Clay  defines  and  denounces 
position  of,  182-185,  196- 
197  ;  large  share  of  offices 
held  by,  184;  not  pacified, 


204 ;  votes  for  Floyd,  205  ; 
calls  a  convention,  205 ; 
Clay's  efforts  to  conciliate, 
209-212;  to  be  coerced  if 
she  secedes,  373. 

Spain,  holds  Florida,  53  ;  revo 
lution  in  her  American  col 
onies,  91-96;  respect  for 
minister  of,  95  ;  Florida  pur 
chased  from,  101-102. 

Spanish  Americans,  Clay  advo 
cates  independence  of,  91- 
96;  slavery  abolished  by, 
107  ;  Clay's  efforts  for  a  con 
gress  of,  150-152. 

Specie  Circular,  246. 

Spoils  System,  Jackson  intro 
duces,  167,  174,  188;  Clay 
denounces,  174-175,  198, 
233 ;  corrupts  Whig  party, 
274. 

Sprague,  Peleg,  217. 

Stephens,  A.  H.,  hears  Clay 
speak,  332-333- 

Stevenson,  Andrew,  228. 

Stevenson,  Thomas  B.,  Clay's 
letters  to,  on  campaign  of 
1848,  335  ;  on  Philadelphia 
convention,  337  ;  on  Taylor, 
338  ;  on  secession,  373. 

Story,  Justice,  his  anecdote  of 
Clay,  424. 

Struthers,  John,  384. 

Sub-treasury  system,  Van  Bu- 
ren  recommends,  247  ;  Clay 
opposes,  249-251  ;  Calhoun 
favors,  254  ;  bill  to  establish 
passed,  261  ;  Clay  moves  to 
repeal,  272 ;  Whig  plan  to 
repeal,  277-278. 

Sunmer,    Charles,    oratory    of, 

391. 

Sumter,  Thomas,  182,  196. 
Surplus,    distribution    of,    244- 

247. 
Swartmout,  Mr.,  41. 

TALLMADGE,  JAMES,  109. 


448 


INDEX 


Taney,  Roger  B.,  222,  228. 

Tappan,  Arthur,  289. 

Tariff,  Clay  advocates,  51,  84; 
of  1816,  86,  131;  increased 
rates  demanded,  131-135; 
called  the  "  American  sys 
tem,"  132;  of  1828,  179;  of 
1832-1833,  207-215  ;  not  the 
real  cause  of  the  trouble,  216- 
217  ;  compromise  rates  dis 
pleasing  to  manufacturers, 
218;  too  low,  283-284;  of 
1842,  306 ;  fraud  in  Penn 
sylvania,  313-314;  of  1846, 

334- 

Taylors,  of  South  Carolina,  183. 

Taylor,  John  W.,  leader  of  free- 
state  men,  1 10 ;  elected 
Speaker,  115;  declares  Clay 
out  of  order,  123. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  H.  Clay,  Jr., 
in  army  of,  327 ;  candidate 
for  President,  330  ;  no  party 
attachments,  331  ;  Clay  op 
poses,  331  ;  nominated  for 
President,  336  ;  elected,  339  ; 
Clay  invited  to  dine  with, 
341  ;  Clay's  influence  over, 
342 ;  threatens  the  South, 
355-356;  policies  of,  opposed 
by  Clay,  356  ;  death  of,  360  ; 
relative  strength  of,  and  Clay, 

372- 

Tecumseh,  189. 

Texas,  excluded  from  Florida 
purchase,  101-103;  contest 
over  annexation  of,  306—330  ; 
Clay's  position  on,  stated  in 
"Raleigh  Letter,"  309-310; 
Democrats  demand  annex 
ation  of,  311  ;  Senate  refuses 
to  annex,  315  ;  "Alabama  Let 
ters  "  on,  315-317  ;  joint  reso 
lution  to  annex,  325  ;  Clay's 
opposition  to,  328-330 ;  fix 
ing  western  bounds  of,  347, 
356,  366  ;  debt  of,  347. 

Thomas,  Senator,  of  Illinois,  1 12. 


Thruston,  Buckner,  51. 

Tinsley,  Peter,  18. 

Tinsley,  Thomas,  1 8. 

Tories,  Clay's  name  for  the 
Jackson  men,  229. 

Transylvania  University,  Clay 
trustee  of,  417  ;  Clay  secures 
money  for,  417. 

Turkey,  Greek  revolt  against, 
103-104. 

Tyler,  John,  for  Vice  President, 
268 ;  becomes  President, 
276 ;  accounted  a  friend  of 
Clay,  276-277  ;  approves 
Clay's  vote  for  Adams,  276; 
a  strict  constructionist,  276 ; 
opposes  expungers,  276  ;  ve 
toes  bank  bill,  278  ;  his  "  cor 
poral's  guard,"  279 ;  read 
out  of  party,  280-281  ;  de 
clares  Clay  a  "  doomed  man," 
281  ;  a  "  flash  in  the  pan," 
303 ;  takes  up  cause  of 
Texas,  308;  consorts  with 
Democrats,  308 ;  makes  Cal- 
houn  Secretary  of  State,  309  ; 
renominates  himself,  311  ;  his 
treachery  to  the  Whigs,  311  ; 
finds  endorsement  in  Clay's 
defeat,  325  ;  his  joint  resolu 
tion  policy,  325  ;  hurries  off 
envoy  to  Texas,  325. 

ULLMAN,  DANIEL,  Clay  writes 
to,  on  Taylor,  331  ;  on  Com 
promise  of  1850,  355 ;  on 
campaign  of  1852,  372. 

Underwood,  Joseph  R.,  an 
nounces  death  of  Clay,  379; 
accompanies  his  body  to  Lex 
ington,  383. 

Upshur,  Secretary  of  State,  es 
pouses  Texas,  308 ;  killed, 
308. 

Utah,  in  Omnibus  Bill,  356, 
363  ;  Clay's  policy  as  to,  358. 

VAN  ARSDALE,  DOCTOR,  350. 


INDEX 


449 


Van  Buren,  Martin,  nominated 
Minister  to  England  and  re 
jected,  197-199  ;  creature  of  ( 
Jackson,  199,  240;  Clay  ad 
dresses,  on  subject  of  Financial 
distress,  225-227  ;  elected 
President,  235  ;  his  legacy  of 
panic,  246-247 ;  recom 
mends  independent  treasury, 
247 ;  Clay  accuses  Calhoun 
of  supporting,  258 ;  Clay  at 
tacks,  261  ;  Grundy  in  cab 
inet  of,  270 ;  defeated  by 
Harrison,  27 1  ;  declines  to 
buy  Texas,  307 ;  candidate 
for  President  in  1844,  309; 
agrees  to  keep  silent  as  to 
Texas,  309 ;  his  letter  in 
Globe,  310;  set  aside  by 
convention,  311. 

Vermont,  restrictions  upon  ne 
groes  in,  ii  6. 

WALKER,  SENATOR,  of  Wis 
consin,  364. 

Watkins,  Henry,  Henry  Clay's 
stepfather,  18;  removes  to 
Kentucky,  20. 

Watkins,  Mrs.  Henry — see  Mrs. 
John  Clay. 

Watkins,  John,  16. 

"  War  Hawks,"  60,  67,  173. 

War  of  1812,  declaration  of,  64  ; 
Federalists  oppose,  65—66 ; 
Randolph  opposes,  66  ;  mis 
fortunes  in,  68-71  ;  issues 
involved  in,  71-73. 

Washington's  farewell  address, 
Clay  speaks  of,  344. 

Webster,  Daniel,  80 ;  changes 
mind  on  tariff  question,  86  ; 
favors  Greece,  103  ;  opposes 
higher  tariff,  132-133;  advo 
cates  tariff,  180;  his  debates 
with  Hayne,  183-184;  urges 
Clay  to  return  to  Washing 
ton,  187  ;  denounces  Jackson 
for  bank  veto,  201 ;  replies  to 


Calhoun,  212;  cordial  rela 
tions  of,  with  Clay,  217;  op 
poses  removal  of  deposits, 
222  ;  presents  petitions,  225  ; 
candidate  for  President  in 
1836,  235  ;  resists  expungers, 
239>  Calhoun's  opinion  of, 
253 ;  his  designs  on  presi 
dency  in  1840,  262;  his 
friends  oppose  Clay,  263 ; 
Secretary  of  State,  274;  aims 
to  reconcile  Tyler  to  bank, 
280 ;  remains  in  cabinet,  280  ; 
criticized  by  Whigs,  281 ;  op 
poses  purchase  of  Texas,  308 ; 
leaves  State  Department,  308; 
endorses  Clay  for  President, 
310;  votes  for,  in  Philadel 
phia  convention,  336 ;  re 
turned  to  Senate,  345  ;  March 
the  7th  speech,  355  ;  in  State 
Department,  360 ;  hears 
Jenny  Lind,  369 ;  Clay  op 
poses  his  nomination  in  1852, 
377;  oratory  of,  391;  com 
pared  with  Clay,  427. 

Webster-Hayne  debates,  183- 
184,  253. 

Weed,  Thurlow,  manoeuvres 
of,  hostile  to  Clay,  263-267  ; 
again  plans  to  defeat  Clay, 
330 ;  fears  open  combat, 
405. 

Wellington,  Duke  of,  324. 

Whig  party,  Clay  forming,  83, 
173  ;  Clay  names,  229  ;  pol 
icies  of,  after  1840,  277;  de 
fied  by  Tyler,  278-279  ;  Tyler 
read  'out  of,  280-281  ;  its 
campaign  in  1844,  311  ;  its 
morale  broken,  314;  knell 
of,  339- 

White,  Andrew  D.,  his  valu 
ation  of  Clay,  429. 

White,  Hugh  L.,  candidate  for 
President,  235. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  asks  Clay  to 
aid  Garrison,  289. 


450 


INDEX 


Wilkinson,  General,  44. 
\Villiamses,  of  South  Carolina, 

183. 

Wilmot  Proviso,  343. 
Winthrop,    Robert    C.,    praises 

Clay    as    Speaker,    145-146; 

other   recollections   of    Clay, 

400,  401. 

Wirt,  William,  204. 
WToodbury,  Levi,  248. 


"  Woolens  Bill,"  180. 

Wright,  Silas,  422. 

Wythe,  George,  Chancellor,  18; 

urges  Clay  to  study  law,  19  ; 

Clay's  respect  for,  94. 

"  YOUNG  REPUBLICANS,"  in 
Senate,  55 ;  programme  of 
after  war,  86;  become 
Whigs,  173. 


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